Population pharmacokinetics of tamsulosin hydrochloride in paediatric patients with neuropathic and non-neuropathic bladder

AIMS The main objective of this study was to characterize the population pharmacokinetics of tamsulosin hydrochloride (HCl) in paediatric patients with neuropathic and non-neuropathic bladder. A secondary objective was to compare the pharmacokinetics in paediatric patients and adults. METHODS Tamsulosin HCl plasma concentrations in 1082 plasma samples from 189 paediatric patients (age range 2-16 years) were analyzed with NONMEM, applying a one compartment model with first-order absorption. Based on the principles of allometry, body weight was incorporated in the base model, along with fixed allometric exponents. Covariate analysis was performed by means of a stepwise forward inclusion and backward elimination procedure. Simulations based on the final model were used to compare the pharmacokinetics with those in adults. RESULTS Beside the priori-implemented body weight, only α₁-acid glycoprotein had an effect on both apparent clearance and apparent volume of distribution. No other investigated covariates, including gender, age, race, patient population and concomitant therapy with anti-cholinergics, significantly affected the pharmacokinetics of tamsulosin HCl (P < 0.001). The results of simulations indicated that the exposure in 12.5 kg paediatric patients was 3.5-4.3 fold higher than that in 70.0 kg adults. After a weight-based dose administration, the exposure in paediatric patients was comparable with that in healthy adults. CONCLUSIONS A population pharmacokinetic model of tamsulosin HCl in paediatric patients was established and it described the data well. There was no major difference in the pharmacokinetics of tamsulosin HCl between paediatric patients (age range 2-16 years) and adults when the effect of body weight was taken into consideration.