Comparative Pharmacokinetics of Theophylline in Rabbits and in Humans with Hyperlipidemia

The study was carried out on male rabbits divided into two groups: a control and an experimental one, fed on a high-fat diet. Humans were also ascribed into two groups: control and those affected with primary, mixed form of hyperlipidemia. The animals and humans were given theophylline intravenously as a single dose. Blood was sampled after 5, 10, 15, 30 and 45 min and 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24 h following theophylline administration. FPIA method was used to determine blood serum concentrations of theophylline. Considerable alterations of theophylline pharmacokinetics in humans suffering from mixed form of hyperlipidemia were observed. Marked decrease in area under the concentration–time curve (AUC), diminished volume of distribution, increased total body clearance, and shortened elimination half-life were observed. On the contrary, in rabbits with alimentary induced lipid metabolism disturbancest_1/2of theophylline was practically unchanged and AUC only slightly increased. In conclusion: (1) hyperlipidemia affects the pharmacokinetics of theophylline in human beings, (2) rabbit model with dietetary induced lipid metabolic disturbances is not a suitable subject for estimation of pharmacokinetics of xanthine derivatives.