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Information |
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Drug Groups
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approved |
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Description
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An antineoplastic antimetabolite with immunosuppressant properties. It is an inhibitor of tetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase and prevents the formation of tetrahydrofolate, necessary for synthesis of thymidylate, an essential component of DNA. [PubChem] |
| Indication |
For the treatment of gestational choriocarcinoma, chorioadenoma destruens and hydatidiform mole. Also for the treatment of severe psoriasis and severe, active, classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis. |
| Pharmacology |
Methotrexate is an antineoplastic anti-metabolite. Anti-metabolites masquerade as purine or pyrimidine - which become the building blocks of DNA. They prevent these substances becoming incorporated in to DNA during the "S" phase (of the cell cycle), stopping normal development and division. Methotrexate inhibits folic acid reductase which is responsible for the conversion of folic acid to tetrahydrofolic acid. At two stages in the biosynthesis of purines and at one stage in the synthesis of pyrimidines, one-carbon transfer reactions occur which require specific coenzymes synthesized in the cell from tetrahydrofolic acid. Tetrahydrofolic acid itself is synthesized in the cell from folic acid with the help of an enzyme, folic acid reductase. Methotrexate looks a lot like folic acid to the enzyme, so it binds to it quite strongly and inhibits the enzyme. Thus, DNA synthesis cannot proceed because the coenzymes needed for one-carbon transfer reactions are not produced from tetrahydrofolic acid because there is no tetrahydrofolic acid. Methotrexate selectively affects the most rapidly dividing cells (neoplastic and psoriatic cells). Methotrexate is also indicated in the management of severe, active, classical, or definite rheumatoid arthritis. |
| Toxicity |
Symptoms of overdose include bone marrow suppression and gastrointestinal toxicity. LD50=43mg/kg(orally in rat). |
| Affected Organisms |
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Humans and other mammals |
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| Biotransformation |
Hepatic. |
| Absorption |
Generally well absorbed with a mean bioavailability of about 60%. |
| Half Life |
Low doses: 3 to 10 hours; High doses: 8 to 15 hours. |
| Protein Binding |
50%, primarily to albumin |
| Elimination |
With IV administration, 80% to 90% of the administered dose is excreted unchanged in the urine within 24 hours. There is limited biliary excretion amounting to 10% or less of the administered dose. |
| Distribution |
* 0.4 to 0.8 L/kg |
| References |
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Klareskog L, van der Heijde D, de Jager JP, Gough A, Kalden J, Malaise M, Martin Mola E, Pavelka K, Sany J, Settas L, Wajdula J, Pedersen R, Fatenejad S, Sanda M: Therapeutic effect of the combination of etanercept and methotrexate compared with each treatment alone in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: double-blind randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2004 Feb 28;363(9410):675-81.
[Pubmed]
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Johnston A, Gudjonsson JE, Sigmundsdottir H, Ludviksson BR, Valdimarsson H: The anti-inflammatory action of methotrexate is not mediated by lymphocyte apoptosis, but by the suppression of activation and adhesion molecules. Clin Immunol. 2005 Feb;114(2):154-63.
[Pubmed]
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