PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Widemann, Brigitte C. AU - Sung, Edward AU - Anderson, Lawrence AU - Salzer, Wanda L. AU - Balis, Frank M. AU - Monitjo, Karen S. AU - McCully, Cynthia AU - Hawkins, Mary AU - Adamson, Peter C. TI - Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism of the Methotrexate Metabolite 2,4-Diamino-<em>N</em> <sup>10</sup>-methylpteroic Acid DP - 2000 Sep 01 TA - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics PG - 894--901 VI - 294 IP - 3 4099 - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/294/3/894.short 4100 - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/294/3/894.full SO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther2000 Sep 01; 294 AB - The novel methotrexate (MTX) rescue agent carboxypeptidase-G2 (CPDG2) converts &gt;98% of plasma MTX to 2,4-diamino-N10-methylpteroic acid (DAMPA) and glutamate in patients with MTX-induced renal failure and delayed MTX excretion. DAMPA is eliminated more rapidly than MTX in these patients, suggesting nonrenal elimination. The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of DAMPA were studied in four nonhuman primates with reverse-phase HPLC with UV, photodiode array detection, and mass spectroscopy. The mean peak plasma DAMPA concentration was 51 μM and the plasma disposition was described by a three-compartment open model with first order elimination. The mean clearance of DAMPA was 1.9 l/kg/h and the mean terminal half-life was 51 min. Forty-six percent of the dose was excreted in the urine as parent compound. Three DAMPA metabolites, hydroxy-DAMPA, DAMPA-glucuronide, and hydroxy-DAMPA-glucuronide, were identified in plasma and urine. These metabolites also were identified in plasma from patients who received CPDG2 as an MTX rescue agent. The cytotoxicity of DAMPA and its effect on MTX cytotoxicity were assessed in the Molt-4 human leukemic cell line. DAMPA was not cytotoxic and did not significantly alter the cytotoxicity of MTX. In nonhuman primates metabolism of DAMPA is a major route of DAMPA elimination, and metabolism underlies the more rapid elimination of DAMPA versus MTX in patients with MTX-induced renal dysfunction after administration of CPDG2. U.S. Government