Abstract
To evaluate the pharmacokinetics of cyclosporine (CyA) in pediatric nephrotic syndrome, 96 CyA pharmacokinetic profiles were obtained from 25 male and 11 female patients. The mean age was 9.1 years (range 1.0-19.7). CyA was administered immediately prior to a meal (twice a day). The patients were divided according to their age into three groups;group 1:1-5 years, group 2:6-10 years, group 3:11 years and over, and pharmacokinetic parametervalues were estimated. The dose of CyA (milligrams per kilogram) ranged from 4.8±1.0 (group 1) and 3.8±0.9 (group 2) to 3.0±0.6 (group 3). There were significant differences in dose of CyA among the three groups. However, no significant differences between the three groups were found in the 4h area under the time-concentration curve (AUC0-4) and the maximum concentration (Cmax). The dose-normalized Cmax and AUC0-4 showed significant differences among the age groups;the younger age group showed lower than the older age group. These findings suggest that younger children require higher doses of CyA to achieve the target AUC level than older children.
