Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 1501232
J. Med. Chem. 1992 Aug;35(16):3039-44
The concentration of AZT in mice plasma and brain was measured using HPLC after an ingestion of 20 mg/kg of AZT or the molar equivalent of hexadecyl 2-(alpha-D-mannopyranosidyl)ethyl 3′-azido-3′-deoxy-5′-thymidinyl phosphate 3. The results demonstrated the promising qualities of the prodrug 3 which gave AZT-5′-phosphate as the main metabolite: the total concentration of AZT derivatives detected in brain presented a peak of 156 nmol/g (5 nmol/g for AZT) at 1 h; the half-life was about 24 h (1 h for AZT) with an AUC of 4366 nmol h/g as compared to 4 nmol h/g for AZT. The lipophilic properties of 3 were confirmed by its in vitro transport of inside synaptosomes. The derivative 2-(alpha-D-mannopyranosidyl)ethyl 3′-azido-3′-deoxy-5′-thymidinyl phosphate (2) provided also a good delivery of AZT to the central nervous system, with values intermediate between those of AZT and 3.