01868nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653001600067653001800083653001100101653001100112653002300123653002500146653001600171653002400187100001500211700001400226700001400240700001400254700001400268700001400282245009500296300001000391490000700401520114400408022001401552       2004                            d  c2004 Apr10aAutopsy10aClofazimine10aFatal Outcome10aFemale10aHumans10aLeprostatic Agents10aLeprosy, lepromatous10aMiddle Aged10aTissue Distribution1 aJadhav M V1 aSathe A G1 aDeore S S1 aPatil P G1 aJoshi N G1 aJoghi N G00aTissue concentration, systemic distribution and toxicity of clofazimine--an autopsy study.  a281-30 v473 a<p>There are very few autopsy studies available on systemic distribution of clofazimine, a drug with anti-mycobacterial activity, used in multidrug therapy (MDT) regimen of leprosy and in erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL). An autopsy study was done on a 45 year old female of lepromatous leprosy (LL) on MDT and long term high dosage of clofazimine. Patient succumbed to intractable abdominal pain, diarrhoea, hypokalemia following clofazimine treatment. Autopsy study revealed yellowish brown discoloration of skin, viscera and body fluids. Chemical extraction of the drug revealed the highest concentration of the drug in jejunum (1.5mg/gm),followed by spleen (1.2mg/gm), pancreas (0.4mg/gm), adrenal (0.25mg/gm), liver (0.21mg/gm), and less than 0.2mg/gm in lung, fat, large intestine and stomach. It can be inferred from the present study that the drug is absorbed from the jejunum and gets deposited in fat, reticulo-endothelial cells (R-E cells) and hepatocytes. The drug is best demonstrated in cryostat sections and is lost partly during tissue processing and staining. The drug toxicity can be fatal as seen in the present case.</p>  a0377-4929