Effectiveness of ibopamine in the management of ascitic liver cirrhosis‐a controlled study v placebo and frusemide

• Published in: British journal of clinical pharmacology Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 813 - 818
• Main Authors: Melloni, GF, Minoja, GM, Melloni, R, Piatto, E, Scarazzati, E, Bauer, R, Ghirardi, P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.1981
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Clinical Trials as Topic; Deoxyepinephrine - analogs & derivatives; Deoxyepinephrine - therapeutic use; Diuresis - drug effects; Diuretics - therapeutic use; Dopamine - analogs & derivatives; Female; Furosemide - therapeutic use; Hemodynamics - drug effects; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis - drug therapy; Liver Cirrhosis - physiopathology; Male; Middle Aged; Placebos; Time Factors
• ISSN: 0306-5251; 1365-2125
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1981.tb01312.x

1 Thirty in‐patients of both sexes suffering from ascitic liver cirrhosis were divided into three groups treated with (a) a placebo, (b) ibopamine (SB 7505, a new oral dopaminergic drug) and (c) frusemide, for 10 days. 2 Body weight decreased with both frusemide and ibopamine, diuresis and urinary excretion of Na+ and Cl‐ increased with both drugs; whereas urinary excretion of K+ increased only with frusemide. 3 An important difference between the frusemide and ibopamine treatment was encountered in creatinine clearance, which increased only with ibopamine, and in blood uric acid which increased only with frusemide. 4 The antidiuretic hormone (ADH) in the plasma of cirrhotic patients was lower than the sensitivity limit of the radioimmunoassay method, whereas in a group of healthy subjects it could be clearly measured. 5 The treatments did not affect systolic or diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, or a series of haematochemical parameters. 6 The increase in diuresis and creatinine clearance and the very good tolerability encountered with ibopamine highlight this new oral dopamine agonist as a useful drug in the management of liver cirrhosis.