• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.576-582
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• 1998

Fenfluramine, an anorectic agent, is widely abused as a diet pill in Korea because it is freely marketed in China without any regulation. The optical isomers of fenfluramine hav e different phamacological actions: d-form is used as an anorectic agent, while l-form as a neuroleptic agent. To investigate the metabolism when racemic fenfluramine was administered orally, the urinary excretion of fenfluramine was studied in rats. The enantiomeric separation of fenfluramine was performed on achiral column by gas chromatography using (S)-N-(trifluoroacetyl)-l-prolyl chloride (TFP) as a derivatizing agent. After administration of 15mg/kg of racemic fenfluramine to rats, d-, l-fenfluramine and its metabolites d- and l norfenfluramine in urine were determined by chromatographic separation of TFP derivatives on DB-1 at retention time of 11.2, 11.8, 8.4 and 8.6 min respectively. Urinary recoveries of d and l-fenfluramine in rat were 0.42-5.9O% and 0.18-1.20% respectively in urine specimens collected during first 24hr. The comparison in the levels of isomers showed that d- fenfluramine were higher than l-form, while d-norfenfluramine were lower than l-form. The ratios between parent compound and metabolite revealed that d-norfenfluramine to d-fenfluramine ranged from 1.0 to 4.4, while the ratio of l-norfenfluramine to l-fenfluramine was 8.2-21.1 indicating that l-fenfluramine is metabolized faster than the d-isomer.