indication

Used as an adjunct to dietary restriction of tyrosine and phenylalanine in the treatment of hereditary tyrosinemia type 1.

pharmacology

Hereditary tyrosinemia type 1 occurs due to a deficiency in fumarylacetoacetase (FAH), the final enzyme in the tyrosine catabolic pathway. Nitisinone inhibits catabolism of tyrosine by preventing the catabolic intermediates. In patients with HT-1, these catabolic intermediates are converted to the toxic metabolites succinylacetone and succinylacetoacetate, which are responsible for the observed liver and kidney toxicity. Succinylacetone can also inhibit the porphyrin synthesis pathway leading to the accumulation of 5-aminolevulinate, a neurotoxin responsible for the porphyric crises characteristic of HT-1.

mechanism of action

Nitisinone is a competitive inhibitor of 4-hydroxyphenyl-pyruvate dioxygenase, an enzyme upstream of fumarylacetoacetate hydrolyase (FAH) in the tyrosine catabolic pathway. By inhibiting the normal catabolism of tyrosine in patients with hereditary tyrosinemia type 1 (HT-1), nitisinone prevents the accumulation of the catabolic intermediates maleylacetoacetate and fumarylacetoacetate.

toxicity

Side effects include elevated plasma levels of this amino acid, hepatic and liver failure.

absorption

The capsule and liquid formulations are bioequivalent in both the plasma concentration-time curve and maximum plasma concentration (Cmax).

half life

~54 hours