title: Absorption, metabolism, and excretion of [14C]viramidine in humans.
abstract: Absorption, metabolism, and excretion of [14C]viramidine, a prodrug of ribavirin, were studied in humans following a single oral dose (600 mg). Viramidine was rapidly absorbed, with a time to maximum concentration of the drug in plasma of 1.5 h. Viramidine and ribavirin accounted for only 4.3% and 42% of plasma area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) for radioactivity, respectively, indicating extensive conversion of viramidine to ribavirin, followed by further metabolism of ribavirin. The drug was largely trapped in red blood cells (RBC), with an RBC-to-plasma radioactivity AUC0-infinity ratio of 108. Excretion of total radioactivity in urine and feces accounted for 50.8% and 26.1% of the dose, respectively. The metabolic profile in urine (0 to 24 h) indicated that viramidine was excreted primarily as triazole carboxamide (TCONH2), triazole carboxylic acid nucleoside (TCOOH), and ribavirin with a small amount of unchanged viramidine, which each accounted for 64.1%, 17.0%, 15.7%, and 3.2% of urinary radioactivity, respectively. The amounts of unchanged viramidine (3.4% of dose) and ribavirin (10% of dose) in urine were small after oral administration of viramidine.
authors.affiliation: Valeant Research & Development, 3300 Hyland Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA. cclin@valeant.com
authors.forename: Chin-Chung
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Nanqun
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Li-Tain
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Yeh
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000284:Administration, Oral; D019540:Area Under Curve; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes / Q000378:metabolism; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011683:Purine-Nucleoside Phosphorylase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D012254:Ribavirin; D011683:Purine-Nucleoside Phosphorylase; C026956:taribavirin