Saturation kinetics of iodipamide.

To characterize the saturation kinetics of iodipamide, timed samples of blood, urine, and bile were taken from two unanesthetized dogs infused with iodipamide at increasing rates to achieve various steady state blood concentrations. Biliary excretion rate of iodipamide reached an asymptote with increasing blood concentration, indicating a biliary transport maximum (Tm) of 15.2 to 16.2 mgI/min. Urinary excretion was not a pure, first order process and urinary excretion rate was higher than the glomerular filtration rate corrected for plasma protein binding, suggesting that active tubular secretion may play a part. Extrarenal elimination followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Estimates of maximum rate (Vm) and Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) were obtained graphically. The estimated values of Vm were 4 to 6 times that of biliary Tm. In acute infusion experiments the iodipamide excreted in the bile and urine and that remaining in the organs analyzed accounted for only a fraction of the dose administered; no significant accumulation of iodipamide was found in the liver.