Butazolidin Plasma Concentration and Urinary Excretion in Normal Individuals and in Patients with Rheumatoid Spondylitis.

Abstract

Butazolidine (3,5-dioxo-1,2-diphenyl-4-n-butyl pyrazolidine) is used extensively in the treatment of rheumatic diseases and is especially beneficial in rheumatoid spondylitis. 400 mg. of Butazolidine were administered orally for 10 days to 11 normal students and to 6 patients with rheumatoid spondylitis in order to study absorption of the drug. Butazolidine was demonstrated in the plasma of all individuals between 1st and 3d days on treatment and appeared in the urine between the 1st and 5th days thus proving its definite absorption in all 17 subjects. With the exception of 2 mild cases of edema in 2 females in the normal group, no toxic effects of the drug were encountered during therapy. There were no significant differences in the reactions in the 2 groups. No sex differences were noted in the rate of absorption or excretion of the drug although the number of subjects admittedly was small. Butazolidine did not completely disappear from the urine in 1 patient with osteo arthritis until 12 days following cessation of therapy, and it was still detected in small amts. in the plasma after 15 days. There is now no adequate explanation regarding the disposition of the drug by the body although there is some evidence that a part of it is stored as Butazolidine in the tissues or carried in the circulating blood.