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Pharmacokinetics of Equilin and Equilin Sulfate in Normal Postmenopausal Women and Men^*

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, McMaster University Health Sciences Centre, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to Dr. B. R. Bhavnani, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, McMaster University, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3Z5 Canada.

The MCRs of equilin sulfate and equilin were determined in normal postmenopausal women and a normal man by single iv injections of either [³H]equilin sulfate or [³H] equilin. After the administration of [³H]equilin sulfate, blood was drawn at various time intervals, and the plasma obtained was fractionated into the unconjugated, sulfate, and glucuronide fractions. The bulk of radioactivity was present in the sulfate fraction, and from this, [³H]equilin sulfate, [³H]17β-dihydroequilin sulfate, [³H]equilenin sulfate, and [³H]17β-dihydroequilenin sulfate were isolated and purified, and their concentrations were measured. The disappearance of radioactivity from plasma as equilin sulfate can be described as a function that is the sum of two exponentials. The initial fast component (half-life, 5.2 ± 1.2 min) represents distribution and transfer from a space, with a mean volume of 12.4 ± 1.6 liters. The mean value for the rate constant of total removal from the initial volume is 163 ± 19 U/day, of which 15.8 ± 2% is irreversible. The mean half-life of the slower component of equilin sulfate is 190 ± 23 min, and the mean MCR is 176 ± 44 liters/day·m².

Similarly, after the administration of [³H]equilin to a normal postmenopausal woman and a man, the disappearance of radioactivity from plasma as equilin could be fitted by a single straight line, consistent with a one-compartment system. The half-life of equilin was approximately 19–27 min, and the MCR of equilin was calculated to be 1982 liters/day/m² in the normal man and 3300 liters/day/m2 in the normal postmenopausal woman. The bulk of [³H]equilin was very rapidly metabolized to mainly equilin sulfate. Small amounts of 17β-dihydroequilin sulfate and 17β-dihydroequilin were also isolated from the plasma. The in vivo formation of 17β-dihydroequilin and its sulfate may be of importance, as this estrogen is approximately 8 times more potent as a uterotropic agent than equilin sulfate. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 56: 1048, 1983)

^* This work was supported by grants from the Ontario Cancer Research and Treatment Foundation (Grant 368) and the Medical Research Council of Canada (Grant MT-3724).

Received October 25, 1982.

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