Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology logoLink to British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
. 1983 Nov;16(5):543–547. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1983.tb02213.x

Clinical pharmacological studies with prazosin during pregnancy complicated by hypertension.

P C Rubin, L Butters, R A Low, J L Reid
PMCID: PMC1428072  PMID: 6639840

Abstract

The disposition and effect of orally administered prazosin have been studied in eight women with hypertension which was uncontrolled by beta-adrenoceptor blockade during the last trimester of pregnancy. Results were compared with healthy men of similar age. The median time to peak concentration was 165 min during pregnancy and 120 min in the men (P less than 0.04). Area under the concentration vs time curve was 3914 ng l-1 min in pregnancy and 2439 ng l-1 min in the men (P less than 0.06). Mean elimination half-life was 171 min in the pregnant women and 130 min in the men (P less than 0.01). Blood pressure was lowered by prazosin in both supine and standing positions. Blood pressure control remained satisfactory in six of the eight women and the median prolongation of pregnancy was 22 days. Neonatal outcome was satisfactory and all babies are developing normally. We conclude that prazosin is more slowly, but apparently more completely, absorbed during pregnancy and that its half-life is slightly prolonged. Prazosin appears to be both effective and safe when used during the last trimester to control blood pressure.

Full text

PDF
543

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Crawford J. S., Rudofsky S. Some alterations in the pattern of drug metabolism aociated with pegnancy, oral contraceptives, and the newly-born. Br J Anaesth. 1966 Jun;38(6):446–454. doi: 10.1093/bja/38.6.446. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Gallery E. D., Saunders D. M., Hunyor S. N., Györy A. Z. Randomised comparison of methyldopa and oxprenolol for treatment of hypertension in pregnancy. Br Med J. 1979 Jun 16;1(6178):1591–1594. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6178.1591. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Krauer B., Krauer F., Hytten F. E. Drug disposition and pharmacokinetics in the maternal-placental-fetal unit. Pharmacol Ther. 1980;10(2):301–328. doi: 10.1016/0163-7258(80)90085-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Lubbe W. F., Hodge J. V. Combined alpha- and beta-adrenoceptor antagonism with prazosin and oxprenolol in control of severe hypertension in pregnancy. N Z Med J. 1981 Sep 9;94(691):169–172. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Redman C. W. Fetal outcome in trial of antihypertensive treatment in pregnancy. Lancet. 1976 Oct 9;2(7989):753–756. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)90597-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Rubin P. C., Butters L., Clark D. M., Reynolds B., Sumner D. J., Steedman D., Low R. A., Reid J. L. Placebo-controlled trial of atenolol in treatment of pregnancy-associated hypertension. Lancet. 1983 Feb 26;1(8322):431–434. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Rubin P. C. Current concepts: beta-blockers in pregnancy. N Engl J Med. 1981 Nov 26;305(22):1323–1326. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198111263052205. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Rubin P. C., Scott P. J., Reid J. L. Prazosin disposition in young and elderly subjects. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1981 Sep;12(3):401–404. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1981.tb01234.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Rubin P., Blaschke T. Prazosin protein binding in health and disease. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1980 Feb;9(2):177–182. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1980.tb05830.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Rubin P., Jackson G., Blaschke T. Studies on the clinical pharmacology of prazosin. II: The influence of indomethacin and of propranolol on the action and disposition of prazosin. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1980 Jul;10(1):33–39. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1980.tb00499.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Rubin P., Yee Y. G., Anderson M., Blaschke T. Prazosin first-pass metabolism and hepatic extraction in the dog. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 1979 Nov-Dec;1(6):641–647. doi: 10.1097/00005344-197911000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Thorley K. J., McAinsh J., Cruickshank J. M. Atenolol in the treatment of pregnancy-induced hypertension. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1981 Nov;12(5):725–730. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1981.tb01296.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Yee Y. G., Rubin P. C., Meffin P. Prazosin determination by high-pressure liquid chromatography using fluorescence detection. J Chromatogr. 1979 Apr 21;172:313–318. doi: 10.1016/s0021-9673(00)90967-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology are provided here courtesy of British Pharmacological Society

RESOURCES