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. 1984 Mar;81(3):557–562. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1984.tb10109.x

Tolbutamide as a model drug for the study of enzyme induction and enzyme inhibition in the rat.

D J Back, F Sutcliffe, J F Tjia
PMCID: PMC1986862  PMID: 6697063

Abstract

The effects of various drugs on the pharmacokinetics of tolbutamide have been examined in the rat. Phenobarbitone pretreatment caused a significant decrease in half life and area under the curve (AUC) and a significant increase in clearance and volume of distribution (Vd). Acute administration of primaquine significantly increased half life and AUC and decreased clearance. In contrast, the related animoquinolone chloroquine, was without effect. Acute administration of cimetidine produced similar changes to primaquine but of lesser magnitude. Formation of the major metabolite hydroxytolbutamide, was markedly enhanced by phenobarbitone and reduced by primaquine and cimetidine. We conclude that due to its single pathway of metabolism, tolbutamide is a good substrate to use when examining pharmacokinetic interactions involving hepatic enzyme induction and inhibition.

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Selected References

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