title: Pharmacokinetics of vincristine in the cerebrospinal fluid of subhuman primates.
abstract: Adult rhesus monkeys were given 2-mg/sq m i.v. bolus injections of radiochemically pure tritiated vincristine (VCR). Simultaneous specimens of blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were sampled from 5 min to 72 hr following injection. CSF was obtained from Ommaya reservoirs which had been implanted s.c. in each monkey. VCR and its metabolic and/or decomposition products rapidly entered the CSF producing low concentrations in this fluid; 5 min following injection, the concentration of VCR was 2.3 nM, whereas approximately a 100-fold greater concentration (203.8 nM) was attained in the plasma. Throughout a 3-day period of observation, constant, low levels of VCR and its metabolic and/or decomposition products (2.3 to 5.7 nM) were maintained in the CSF. The principal form of VCR present in the CSF 1 hr or more after i.v. injection was a water-soluble metabolite and/or decomposition product(s). Although the levels achieved in the CSF are unlikely to be lethal to tumor cells, the finding of persistent low concentrations of VCR and its metabolic and/or decomposition products in the CSF indicates prolonged exposure of neural tissue which might result in neurotoxicity, particularly cumulative neurotoxicity following multiple doses of VCR.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007700:Kinetics; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D014750:Vincristine / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014750:Vincristine