Pharmacokinetics of repeated single oral doses of enalapril maleate (mk‐421) in normal volunteers

Abstract

Enalapril, the ethyl ester of a potent angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, enalaprilat, was administered to healthy volunteers as a capsule containing 10 mg of the maleate salt, every 24 h for eight doses. Serum profiles show little accumulation of enalaprilat following eight daily doses of enalapril maleate. An average effective half-life for accumulation of approximately 11 h was calculated from urine data. Comparison of observed 24-h urinary recoveries of enalaprilat to predicted steady-state recovery indicates that an ‘average’ steady state for enalaprilat is attained by the third or fourth dose of enalapril maleate. Statistical comparison of daily urinary recoveries, as well as C_min values for enalaprilat, confirm this. Observed fluctuations in serum and urine data during apparent steady state suggest some day-to-day variability in the absorption of enalapril maleate and/or its hydrolysis to enalaprilat. An accumulation ratio of 1·3 for enalaprilat was calculated from the predicted steady-state urinary recovery and observed urinary recovery for dose one.