Metrifonate in healthy volunteers: interrelationship between pharmacokinetic properties, cholinesterase inhibition and side-effects.

Metrifonate concentrations in plasma, its inhibition of blood cholinesterase, and side-effects were studied in 16 healthy volunteers who received a single oral dose of 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 15 mg/kg in a randomized double-blind study (4 subjects for each dose). Metrifonate was determined by a gas chromatographic method. Peak plasma levels were reached within 2 hours; the half-life in plasma, oral clearance, and normalized Cmax and AUCs did not differ significantly between the four groups. Plasma cholinesterase (BuchE) was inhibited to low levels in all subjects, while erythrocyte cholinesterase (AchE) was affected in a dose-dependent fashion. The occurrence of side-effects correlated strongly with peak plasma levels but not with maximum AchE inhibition or with increase in salivation. This study shows that the absorption of metrifonate was not significantly different for doses between 2.5 and 15 mg/kg. The plasma levels of this drug correlated with the occurrence of side-effects.