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During 5 days following a single oral dose of 3H-11-bromovincamine (40 mg) to two human subjects, means of 55% and 27% of theH dose were excreted in the urine and faeces respectively, mainly within 24 and 48 h. Mean plasma concentrations ofH reached a peak (1900 ng equiv./ml) at 1 h after dosing and declined biphasically with half-lives of 5 h and 11 h which were similar to half-lives for urinary excretion ofH. Parent drug and 11 -bromovincaminic acid were the major dose-related components in plasma at 1.5 and 3 h. Mean plasma concentrations of 11-bromovincamine reached a peak (620 ng/ml) at 0.75 h and declined biphasically with half-lives of about 1 h and 5 h. The major urinary metabolite was 11-bromovincaminic acid (31% dose). Also present in urine were 11-bromovincamine (3%), 11-bromoapovincamine (1%) and 2 unknown metabolites (9% and 6%). Similar metabolites were detected in faecal extracts. If inadequately stored in biological samples, 11-bromovincamine could be hydrolysed to 11-bromovincaminic acid and be epimerised to 11-bromo-epivincamine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urinary excretion of nortriptyline (NT) and five of its metabolites was studied by quantitative gas chromatography in 22 twins and 7 unrelated healthy subjects after single (1 mg/kg) and multiple oral doses (0.4 mg/kg t.i.d.) of NT hydrochloride. A mean recovery of 62% of the dose was found after both single and multiple doses. The metabolite pattern in the urine was qualitatively and quantitatively identical in the two regimes, but there were marked variations in the pattern of metabolites between individuals. The disappearance rate of NT from the plasma was mainly determined by the metabolism of NT to 10-hydroxynortriptyline, which varied considerably between individuals. The data suggest that in certain rapid NT metabolizers, the upper limit for the overall clearance of NT from the plasma (if extrahepatic metabolism is assumed to be negligible) might be set by the blood flow through the liver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]