Pharmacokinetics and hepatic first‐pass effect of (−)‐carbovir in the anesthetized rat

Studies were designed to allow an in vivo estimation of the hepatic extraction ratio and to test the hypothesis that the pharmacokinetic parameters of (−)‐CBV are significantly different during anesthesia. (−)‐CBV was administered as an IV bolus followed by IV infusion into either the portal (n = 3) or the jugular (n = 3) veins of anesthetized male Sprague—Dawley rats These studies indicated that (−)‐CBV had a very low hepatic extraction ratio, in agreement with previous (−)‐CBV in situ liver perfusion studies. Additionally, anesthesia was shown to alter the pharmacokinetics of (−)‐CBV by reducing the total body clearance of this drug.