title: Intraindividual variation in 6-mercaptopurine pharmacokinetics during oral maintenance therapy of children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
abstract: Intraindividual variation in 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) kinetics has been little studied. It has now been examined in 18 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). On 2 to 4 occasions in each patient drug concentrations in plasma and red cells were followed for 4 h after administration by means of HPLC. The mean individual coefficient of variation (C.V.) in AUC was 57.9% and it was not related to dose or concentration. The variation was the same in plasma and in red cells. It is concluded that regular monitoring of 6-mercaptopurine concentration would identify periods when a patient deviates strongly from the mean range. Both undertreatment and concentration-dependent toxicity could then be corrected.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lafolie
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayder
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Björk
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peterson
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D001682:Biological Availability; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015122:Mercaptopurine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015122:Mercaptopurine