Methyprylon
Chemical compound
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Methyprylon, or Noludar, is a sedative/tranquilizer and hypnotic central nervous system depressant of the piperidinedione derivative chemical class, first developed in the 1940s by Hoffmann-La Roche.[2] This medicine was used for treating insomnia, but is now rarely used as it has been replaced by newer drugs with fewer side effects, such as benzodiazepines.[3]
- BR: Class B1 (Psychoactive drugs)[1]
- CA: Schedule IV
- DE: Anlage II (Authorized trade only, not prescriptible)
- UK: Class C
- US: Schedule III
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| Trade names | Noludar, Dimerin, Noctan, Methyprylone, Noctan |
| Routes of administration | By mouth |
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| Protein binding | 60% |
| Elimination half-life | 6-16 hours |
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| ECHA InfoCard | 100.004.315 |
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| Formula | C10H17NO2 |
| Molar mass | 183.251 g·mol−1 |
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| Chirality | Racemic mixture |
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Methyprylon was withdrawn from the US market in June 1975 and the Canadian market in September 1990. Some other trade names are Noctan and Dimerin.
Pharmacokinetics
A study of single oral doses of 300 mg in healthy volunteers found that the zero-order absorption model fit the data best. Mean (+/- SD) values for the half-life (9.2 +/- 2.2 h), apparent clearance, (11.91 +/- 4.42 mL/h/kg) and apparent steady-state volume of distribution, (0.97 +/- 0.33 L/kg) were found.[4]
A case report found that the pharmacokinetics of methyprylon were not concentration dependent in an overdose case; explanations included saturation or inhibition of metabolic pathways. The generally accepted half-life for a therapeutic dose was not found appropriate in intoxicated patients and would underestimate the time required to reach a safe concentration of the drug.[5]
History
Methyprylon was developed by Hoffmann-La Roche during the early 1950s as part of a search for non-barbiturate sedative-hypnotic agents and was patented in the United States in 1954.[6] Introduced into clinical practice in 1955, it was marketed under the trade names Noludar, Noctan, Dimerin, and Methyprylone for the treatment of insomnia.[7] Early clinical reports described methyprylon as a non-barbiturate sedative-hypnotic that produced reliable sleep and was intended as a comparatively mild alternative to the barbiturate hypnotics then in widespread clinical use.[8]
Within a year of its introduction, however, reports of serious intoxication began to appear in the medical literature. In 1956, the New England Journal of Medicine published what was described as the first reported fatal poisoning associated with methyprylon, while noting that the drug had only recently become available for general clinical use.[9] During the following decade, additional case reports documented overdose, suicide attempts, and dependence in patients receiving methyprylon, although the drug remained in widespread clinical use as a hypnotic throughout much of the 1960s.[10][11]