title: A revision of the metabolic disposition of amantadine.
abstract: Amantadine is one of the most commonly used drugs for the control of tremor in Parkinson's disease. Additionally, it has an antiviral action in the prevention of type A influenza. It has been previously reported that amantadine is nearly completely eliminated in the urine. No metabolites have been detected. Surprisingly, in a case of amantadine overdose, several metabolites could be identified by gas chromatography/mas spectrometry. This finding prompted us to re-investigate the metabolism of amantadine under a therapeutic dosing regimen. The bulk of the dose was eliminated unchanged. However, eight metabolites could be identified. Besides N-acetylation which is the major metabolic pathway, several rather unusual metabolic pathways were observed: N-methylation, formation of Schiff bases and N-formiates. No metabolites with a hydroxylated adamantane ring system could be detected.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Köppel
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tenczer
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000547:Amantadine / Q000378:metabolism*; D001711:Biotransformation; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D000547:Amantadine