Effect of naftidrofuryl on intramuscular partial oxygen pressure (pO 2 ) prior to,during and after physical load on the treadmill in apparently healthy subjects

Previous studies demonstrated that naftidrofuryl increased the cutaneous and intramuscular tissue pO₂ at rest. The presented open prospective pilot study is to investigate in apparently healthy subjects (n=12) whether naftidrofuryl also affects pO₂ in situations of muscular stress. The pO₂ is measured with a flexible probe in the anterior tibial muscle during treadmill exercise prior to and after one‐week treatment with 100 mg of naftidrofuryl administered three times a day.

The intake of naftidrofuryl proved to significantly affect the intramuscular partial oxygen pressure. With 38.6±22.9 mmHg, the pO₂ is at rest already significantly (p<0.05), i.e., approx. 40% higher after one week of intake than before treatment (27.3±12.1 mmHg). This higher pO₂ level is maintained during exercise. The higher the physical load, the larger the difference in pO₂. While under naftidrofuryl treatment the measured pO₂ values exhibit the tendency to increase during the first exercise phase (at a load of 3 km/h and a gradient 5 degree), the differences are even significant under higher physical stress (at 5 km/h and a gradient of 10 degree). With 33.9±12.0 mmHg the mean minimum pO₂ determined at the higher load level still ranges above the basal pO₂ measured before the start of naftidrofuryl treatment.