Extracardial effects of oral ibopamine versus furosemide in patients with mild or moderate heart failure. A double-blind, randomized trial.

Ibopamine is a novel oral dopamine analogue with vasodilatory, positive inotropic and diuretic effects. In a double-blind, randomized study, the drug was investigated in 12 patients (mean age 49 +/- 10 years, 8 male, 4 female) with mild or moderate heart failure (NYHA classes II:8 patients, III:4 patients). Effects of single oral doses of 200 mg ibopamine, of 40 mg furosemide and of 200 mg ibopamine + 40 mg furosemide were compared in each patient at 3-day intervals. 1 h after administration, systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased from 120 +/- 11 to 124 +/- 9 and from 76 +/- 5 to 81 +/- 6 mm Hg in the ibopamine group. During 4 h after drug ingestion, urinary flow was significantly raised from 124 +/- 81 to 228 +/- 166 ml/2 h in the ibopamine group (p less than 0.05), while the administration of furosemide (with or without ibopamine) resulted in several folds increases of urinary flow. After ibopamine, the 2-h creatinine clearance rose from 123 +/- 73 to 131 +/- 85 ml/min (not significant). Sodium and potassium excretion remained essentially unchanged by ibopamine, while effects of furosemide were several folds of those of ibopamine. Plasma renin activity was lowered to 65% by ibopamine (p less than 0.01). No additive effects of ibopamine in the presence of furosemide were observed for all parameters tested. These results indicate that ibopamine has smaller renal effects than furosemide with regard to water diuresis and kaliuresis. These effects of ibopamine could reflect direct changes of renal function or secondary effects of neurohumoral origin. Ibopamine does not produce undesirable renal side effects, but affects the neurohumoral status favourably. This drug, thus, could be useful as an adjuvant therapy in mild heart failure.