Professor The Ohio State University Delaware, OH, United States
Abstract: Background - Pregabalin is utilized to help alleviate anxiety and fear associated with veterinary visits. Its published mean half-life in healthy cats is 14.7 hours. Appropriate dosing in cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is unknown, as pregabalin is cleared by renal excretion. Objective - Assess the half-life of two formulations of pregabalin in cats with surgically induced CKD using a sparse sampling approach. Animals - 10 purpose-bred cats in IRIS CKD Stage 2 (n=9) or 3 (n=1).
Methods: In two sequential studies three months apart, two formulations of pregabalin were assessed: compounded capsules and oral solution (Bonqat®, 50 mg/mL). Both formulations were administered orally once at an intended dose of 2.5 mg/kg, and two blood samples per cat were obtained at differing time points post administration (3, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 36, and 48 hours). Degree of sedation was scored. Serum pregabalin concentrations were measured via HPLC-MS-MS. Data were plotted on semi-log graphs for visual inspection and analyzed using a non-compartmental, sparse sampling method with uniform weighting. Elimination rate and half-life predictions were made using at least 4 time points in the terminal phase. Results - Administration of the oral solution was subjectively more difficult than that of capsules, and visual inspection of serum concentration-time graphs showed more variability in this formulation. The predicted terminal half-lives of the compounded and Bonqat® formulations of pregabalin were 24.8 and 26.3 hours, respectively. No cat experienced excessive sedation. Conclusions - The clearance of pregabalin is delayed in cats with CKD.
