Abstract
KODAMA, H., MEGURO, Y., TSUNAKAWA, A., NAKAZATO, Y., ABE, T. and MURAKITA, H. Fate of Orally Administered Triethylenetetramine Dihydrochloride: A Therapeutic Drug for Wilson's Disease. Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 1993, 169 (1), 59- 66-Triethylenetetramine dihydrochloride (TETA) is a therapeutic drug for Wilson's disease. We developed a simple fluorometric method for detection of TETA in biological fluids by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and examined TETA concentrations in the serum and urine of two healthy adults who were given TETA orally. No TETA peak was detected in the serum. The amount of TETA in the urine of the two adults was only 1.6 and 1.7% of the dose administered. However, a large unidentified peak appeared in the urine after oral administration. This peak was not observed in a mixture of TETA and control urine or in urine before TETA administration. When the urine after TETA administration was analyzed after hydrolysis with HCl, the unidentified peak disappeared, while the TETA peak increased. These findings indicate that the substance which yielded the unidentified peak is a metabolite of TETA, suggesting that most of the TETA administered is metabolized and then excreted in the urine.-triethylenetetramine dihydrochloride; Wilson's disease; analytical method; urine; TETA
