Its half-life is approximately fourteen hours, similar to indapamide but considerably longer than hydrochlorothiazide. Metolazone is around ten times as potent as hydrochlorothiazide. The primary form of excretion is in the urine (around 80%); the remaining fifth is evenly split between biliary excretion and metabolism into inactive forms. Chemistry
The use of activated anthranilic acid derivatives facilitates the preparation of the
amides in those cases where the amines are either unreactive or difficult to obtain. Thus, reaction of (1) with phosgene gives the reactive the isatoic anhydride (2). Condensation of that with ortho-toluidine leads to the acylation product (3) formed with a simultaneous loss of carbon dioxide. This is then converted to the quinazolone (4) by heating with acetic anhydride. Reaction with sodium borohydride in the presence of aluminum chloride selectively reduces the double bond to yield the diuretic agent metolazone (5). Structure and classification
Metolazone is a quinazoline, a derivative of the similar diuretic quinethazone, as well as a sulfonamide. It is related to analogs of 1,2,4-benzothiadizine-1,1-dioxide (benzothiadiazine). Such drugs are called benzothiadiazides, or thiazides for short; however, in terms of chemistry, metolazone is not a substituted benzothiadiazine, and therefore is not technically a thiazide. Since metolazone (as well as other drugs like indapamide) acts on the same target as thiazides and behave in a similar pharmacologic fashion, it is, however, considered a "thiazide-like diuretic." Therefore, metolazone and similar drugs are often categorized with thiazide diuretics despite not being thiazides themselves. History
Metolazone was developed in the 1970s.
Its creator, Indian born chemist Dr. Bola Vithal Shetty has been active in helping the U.S. Food and Drug Administration review drug applications, and in the development of new medicines. Metolazone quickly gained popularity due to its lower kidney toxicity compared to other diuretics (especially thiazides) in patients with chronic kidney disease. == References ==