Effect of naftidrofuryl on intramuscular partial oxygen pressure (pO2) 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 pO 2 at rest. The presented open prospective pilot study is to investigate in apparently healthy subjects (n = 12) whether naftidrofuryl also affects pO 2 in situations of muscular stress. The pO 2 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 pO 2 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 pO 2 level is maintained during exercise. The higher the physical load, the larger the difference in pO 2 . While under naftidrofuryl treatment the measured pO 2 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 pO 2 determined at the higher load level still ranges above the basal pO 2 measured before the start of naftidrofuryl treatment.