Abstract
Summary
1. The uptake of sulphone by leprosy patients was investigated, employing S-35 tagged diamino - diphenyl - sulphone (DDS). After oral administration: (i) total amount of drug in blood increased rapidly during initial hours reaching a maximum of about 8% of dose at 6 hours and then gradually decreased at an average rate of 62% per day to a negligible level in about 5 days; (ii) on an average 78% of the drug was excreted through the kidneys within about a week; the average rate of excretion being 42% per day; (iii) level of drug in bone-marrow and healthy skin was almost parallel to that in blood; (iv) the drug was preferentially localized in diseased skin tissues, where concentration was about 10 times greater than that in healthy tissues. 2. Subcutaneous injection also revealed similar preferential localization in affected regions. The significance of these findings is discussed.
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