Effect of Uranyl Nitrate-Induced Acute Renal Failure on the Pharmacokinetics of Sulfobromophthalein in Rats

The efect of acute renal failure (ARF) on the pharmacokinetics o sulfobromophthalein (BSP) was investigated in order to elucidate if renal failure modifies the hepatic metabolism of drugs. ARF was induced by intravenous (iv) injection of uranyl nitrate (UN) to rats (5 mg/kg) five days before the experiment. Area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC)of BSP after portal vein (pv) injection increased by 2-fold and total body clearance ($CL_1$) decreased one half (p <0.01) in UN-induced ARF (UN-ARF) rate compared to the control rats. But the plasma disappearance of BSP after iv injection did not differ significantly between control and UN-ARF rats. Since BSP is excreted via the liver, $CL_1$ represented the approximate hepatic clearance of BSP. Therefore, the decrease in $CL_1$ represented the approximate hepatic clearance of BSP. Therefore, the decrease in $CL_1$ represents a decrease in hepatic intrinsic clearance ($CL_{int}$) for BSP since plasma free fraction ($f_p$) of BSP was not affected by UN-ARF. The content of hepatic cytoplasmic Y-protein, which catalyzes BSP-glutathione conjugation and limits the trasfer of BSP from blood to bile, increased significantly (p < 0.01), however its binding activity (BA) for BSP was decreased significantly (p <0.01) by UN-ARF. The decrease in $CL_{int}$might have some correlation with the changed characteristics of hepatic Y-protein, specifically its decreased BA for BSP.