URINARY METABOLITES OF 13-[3'-(4''-METHYL-PIPERAZINYL)-PROPYL]-PHENOTHIAZINE (PERAZINE) IN PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS .2. INDIVIDUAL METABOLITE PATTERNS AND THEIR CHANGES IN COURSE OF TREATMENT

The urinary excretion of perazine metabolites was studied in schizophrenic patients during the first weeks after initiation of perazine treatment. Quantitative determinations of 9 metabolites did not reveal important inter-individual differences in metabolite patterns. In all those patient who had not been intensively pretreated with other phenothiazines, a marked increase in the ratio of demethylation products to the corresponding N-methyl compounds was oberved between the first and fourth week of treatment. The hypothesis of an induction of a demethylating enzyme by perazine is discussed. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.