Flucytosine conversion to fluorouracil in humans: does a correlation with gut flora status exist? A report of two cases using fluorine-19 magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Author(s): Malet-Martino MC, Martino R, de Forni M, Andremont A, Hartmann O, Armand JP
Affiliation(s): IMRCP Laboratory, Universite Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
Publication date & source: 1991-05, Infection., 19(3):178-80.
Publication type: Case Reports
A relationship between the gut flora level, particularly gram-negative enterobacilli, and the in vivo flucytosine conversion to fluorouracil has been observed in humans from the fluorine-19 magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis of urine from two patients treated with the flucytosine- (6 to 9 g/day) amphotericin B (1 mg/kg/day) combination. Indeed the percentage of fluorouracil metabolites was extremely low (less than 0.6% of total fluorinated compounds excreted) when the number of enterobacillary colonies was low (less than 10(3] and higher (3.5 to 8.8%) when enterobacillary colonies were under reconstitution or in the normal range (10(5) to 10(8]. The intestinal microflora assessment may therefore be of high interest to predict the risk of an additive flucytosine-induced myelotoxicity suspected to be due to fluorouracil during flucytosine chronic therapy.
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