Summary
Low-molecular-weight heparins undergo renal elimination, and therefore the proper
dosing in hemodialysis (HD) patients is unclear. It was the objective of this study
to evaluate the pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters of dalteparin in patients receiving
chronic HD for end-stage renal disease. We performeda multidose PK study with prophylactic
doses of dalteparin in twelve HD patients. Dalteparin 5,000 IU was administered subcutaneously
daily for four consecutive days, with HD performed on day2 and day 4. Anti-factor
Xa activity was determined daily and at multiple blood samples after the 3rd and 4th dose. Eleven of 12 patients completed the study. The mean (range) PK parameters determined
after the 4th dose were as follows: i) maximum concentration (Cmax) was 0.31 IU/ml (0.06 to 0.55 IU/ml); ii) time to Cmax was 3.55 hours (2.59 to 4.96 hr); iii) area under the curve was 3.24 IU*hr/ml (0.64
to 6.44 IU*hr/ml); iv) half-life was 3.82 hr (2.03 to 9.63 hr); and v) trough anti-factor
Xa activity 0.04 IU/ml (0.02 to 0.08 IU/ml). No major bleeding was observed. In general,
patients with lower body weight exhibited a higher Cmax. From this pilot PK study, we have determined initial PK parameters for dalteparin
in HD patients. Although a standard prophylactic dose was used, we found that in this
patient population differences in body weight influenced the Cmax. Future studies to evaluate the PK parameters of dalteparin in patients receiving
chronic HD may have to use weight-based dosing and will need to be performed over
a longer period of time.
Keywords
Dalteparin - hemodialysis - low-molecular-weight heparin - pharmacokinetics