Summary
We have studied the pharmacokinetics of tiopronin and its principal metabolite, 2-mercaptopropionic acid (2-MPA) in healthy volunteers after the oral administration of 500 mg (2 Acadione® tablets), followed by simultaneous assay of the two compounds in plasma over a period of 48 h using a new method (emission of fluorescence after HPLC and post-column derivatization by pyrene-maleimide). The absorption of tiopronin was slow (tmax between 4 and 6 h) and the plasma concentrations subsequently fell biexponentially. The principal metabolite 2-MPA appeared later in the plasma (tmax between 10 and 12 h after a lag-time of 3 h) then disappeared monoexponentially. About 15% of the tiopronin was metabolized to 2-MPA.
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Hercelin, B., Leroy, P., Nicolas, A. et al. The pharmacokinetics of tiopronin and its principal metabolite (2-mercaptopropionic acid) after oral administration to healthy volunteers. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 43, 93–95 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02280762
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02280762