Summary
A newly developed method for extracting and measuring methimazole in biological fluids was used to study the pharmacokinetics of methimazole in two euthyroid and eight hyperthyroid subjects. The volume of distribution approximated total body water; the biological half-life was 2–3 h in euthyroid and about 6 h in hyperthyroid patients. Total clearance was lower in hyperthyroid patients than in euthyroid subjects, and it did not increase after thyroid function was normalized. Bioavailability in euthyroid subjects was greater than 1 but only 0.5 in hyperthyroid subjects. The reasons for these observed differences are not known.
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Abbreviations
- AUC:
-
area under the serum concentration — time curve
- HCl:
-
hydrochloric acid
- HPLC:
-
high pressure liquid chromatography
- M:
-
molar
- ml/min:
-
milliliter per minute
- N:
-
normal
- NaOH:
-
aqueous sodium hydroxide
- ng/ml:
-
nanogram per milliliter
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Dedicated to Professor Hans J. Dengler on the occasion of his 60th birthday
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Hengstmann, J.H., Hohn, H. Pharmacokinetics of methimazole in humans. Klin Wochenschr 63, 1212–1217 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01733780
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01733780