The effect of nifedipine on the disposition of strontium gluconate used as a kinetic marker for calcium in healthy volunteers.

1. We have studied the disposition of stable strontium after the intravenous administration of strontium gluconate to eight healthy male volunteers both in control conditions and while they were taking the calcium antagonist nifedipine 10 mg three times daily. 2. Nifedipine, presumably by its action in blocking voltage-operated calcium channels, altered the in vivo disposition of strontium, causing large reductions in the half-life and the apparent volume of distribution of strontium. Total and renal clearances of strontium were unaltered by nifedipine. 3. These results support our previous suggestion that the delineation of strontium disposition can be used as a means of studying calcium disposition in vivo in man, and of studying the effects of drugs and diseases on that disposition.