Nitazoxanide: pharmacokinetics and metabolism in man

Elimination of radiocarbon occurred both in the urine (31.5% of the dose on average) and in the feces (66.2% on average). T and T-glucuronide contributed 15% of total urine radioactivity. N was found to deacetylate extremely rapidly to T in plasma (half-life of about 6 minutes at 37 degrees C) as well as in presence of liver microsomes. T was the only species obtained by incubation with human microsomes while rat microsomes yielded hydroxylated T in addition. The main species identified in human plasma, urine and bile was T-glucuronide, the identification of which was confirmed by comparison with an authentic sample. No species other than T was detected in feces, indicating intensive intestinal deconjugation, while radioactivity and absorbance detectors showed largely unresolved clusters.