Abstract
Isocarboxyazid has been widely used in the treatment of depressive diseases, however, there is no pertinent information on metabolism and placental transfer of the drug although a few reports have appeared concerning metabolism of this drug in male rats (1) and man (2).
Preceding papers (3-6) demonstrated that the metabolism of isocarboxazid was initiated by enzymatic hydrolysis of amide bond of the drug to form benzylhydrazine, and this enzyme was found to localize mainly in the microsomal fraction of liver. Moreover, there was a significant species difference in the enzyme activity, that is, the guinea-pig has an approximate ten-fold higher enzyme activity than rats.
The present paper is concerned with the metabolism of isocarboxazid in pregnant rats and determinations to elucidate the placental transfer of this drug.
