Vol. 31, Issue 1, 114-121, January 2003

Amino Acid Conjugates: Metabolites of 2-Propylpentanoic Acid (Valproic Acid) in Epileptic Patients

V. S. Gopaul,¹ W. Tang,² K. Farrell, and F. S. Abbott

Faculties of Pharmaceutical Sciences (V.S.G., W.T., F.S.A.) and Medicine (K.F.), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

In this study, spectroscopic and chromatographic evidence is presented for the identification and characterization of the metabolites, valproyl glutamate (2-propylpentanoyl glutamate, VPA-GLU) and valproyl glutamine (2-propylpentanoyl glutamine, VPA-GLN) in the urine, serum, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients on valproic acid (VPA) therapy. Moreover, the identification of valproyl glycine (2-propylpentanoyl glycine, VPA-GLY) in the serum and urine of patients on VPA, albeit in trace concentrations, is also reported here. The three amino acid conjugates excreted in urine accounted for about 1% of the VPA dose in four patients who were on VPA therapy chronically and had reached steady state. VPA-GLU was quantitatively the most prominent metabolite (0.66-13.1 µg/mg creatinine) compared with VPA-GLN (0.78-9.93 µg/mg creatinine) and VPA-GLY (trace-1.0 µg/mg creatinine) in overnight urine samples of all patients studied (n = 29). The relatively low serum concentrations of the three amino acid conjugates of VPA in six patients suggest that the metabolites are readily excreted once formed. In contrast, whereas VPA GLY was absent in the CSF of one patient on VPA, the concentrations of VPA-GLU and VPA-GLN in this CSF sample were 9 and 5 times, respectively, their corresponding serum concentrations.