[Pharmacokinetics of 5-ethyl-2'-desoxyuridine in the rat]

The pharmacokinetic behaviour of the virostatic drug 5-ethyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EtUdR, Aedurid) and its metabolite 5-ethyluracil was determined after intravenous and oral application in a nonindividual study using inbred rats. EtUdR is metabolized and eliminated rapidly. The saturation of the metabolic pathway could not be achieved. Higher initial blood levels resulted from a pretreatment of rats with probenecid or the application of the better water-soluble compound 5-ethyl-2'-deoxyuridine-5'-monophosphate; the elimination characteristic of EtUdR could not be altered by these methods.