Biotransformation and pharmacokinetics of sulfinpyrazone (Anturan®) in man

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Abstract
The absorption, biotransformation and elimination of sulfinpyrazone, 1,2-diphenyl-3,5-dioxo-4-(2′-phenylsufinylethyl)-pyrazolidine, have been studied by administration of single 200 mg oral doses of a14C-labelled preparation to two male volunteers. Absorption from the gastro-intestinal tract was rapid and complete and the plasma concentration of unchanged drug reached maximum values of 22.67 and 13.04 µg/ml, respectively, after 1 – 2 hours. The elimination half-life in the two subjects, calculated from the decline between 3 and 8 hours, was 2.7 and 2.2 hours. The integrated concentration of unchanged sulfinpyrazone in plasma, estimated from the area under the concentration curves (AUC), was almost as high as that of total14C-substances, so the proportion of metabolized drug in plasma was low. In no case did the AUC of the three specifically determined metabolites, i.e. the sulphone G 31 442, the “para-hydroxy”-compound G 32 642 and the “4-hydroxy”-compound GP 52 097, exceed 4% of the sulfinpyrazone value. More than 95% of whole blood radioactivity was confined to plasma. The oral dose was rapidly and completely excreted, since within 4 days more than 95% was recovered, 85% from urine and 10% from faeces. A large proportion of the dose was excreted as unchanged drug in the two volunteers: 51 and 54% of total urinary radioactivity was present as sulfinpyrazone; 8.2 and 8.8% was present as “para-hydroxy”-metabolite, 2.7 and 3.0% as sulphone-metabolite, and 0.6 and 0.8% as “4-hydroxy”-metabolite. About 30% of urinary radioactivity consisted of highly polar metabolites. Spectroscopy of them showed that they were the C-β-glucuronides of sulfinpyrazone (28%) and the corresponding sulfone (2%). In these metabolites the C(4) of the pyrazolidine ring was directly attached to glucuronic acid, and thus they represent a new type of biosynthetic conjugate.