Clearance of Antipyrine‐Dependence of Quantitative Liver Function

Abstract.The purpose of the present study was to assess the influence of liver disease on the hepatic drug‐metabolizing enzyme systems. The clearance of antipyrine was found to be significantly decreased in 13 patients with liver disease compared with 9 control patients (18.5 and 58.6 ml/min. respectively). Among the patients with liver disease, those with a severely reduced capacity for work had significantly lower clearance of antipyrine than non incapacitated patients (12.5 and 25.4 ml/min. respectively). The clearance of antipyrine was significantly correlated with the galactose elimination capacity, the serum albumin and the prothrombin values. The results indicate that the drug‐metabolizing capacity of the liver changes in parallel with the other metabolic functions, and the use of the clearance of antipyrine as a quantitative test of liver function is suggested.