The doxorubicin-cardioprotective drug dexrazoxane undergoes metabolism in the rat to its metal ion-chelating form ADR-925.

PURPOSE: Dexrazoxane is clinically used as a doxorubicin-cardioprotective agent and may act by preventing iron-based oxygen free-radical damage through the iron-chelating ability of ADR-925. The metabolism of dexrazoxane (ICRF-187) to its one-ring open hydrolysis products and its rings-opened metal-chelating product ADR-925 was determined in a rat model in order to identify the mechanism by which dexrazoxane acts. METHODS: A new fluorescence detection flow injection assay utilizing the metal-chelating dye calcein was developed to detect ADR-925 in blood plasma. Dexrazoxane and its one-ring open metabolites were determined by HPLC. RESULTS: ADR-925 was detected within 5 min of i.v. administration of dexrazoxane to rats, suggesting that dexrazoxane is rapidly metabolized in vivo. The plasma concentrations of ADR-925 exceeded those of both one-ring open intermediates at 30 min and those of dexrazoxane by 80 min and reached a maximum at 80 min, and then slowly decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The rapid appearance of ADR-925 in plasma may make ADR-925 available to be taken up by heart tissue and bind free iron. These results indicate that the one-ring open dexrazoxane intermediates are enzymatically metabolized to ADR-925 and provide a pharmacodynamic basis for the antioxidant cardioprotective activity of dexrazoxane.