Metabolism
A common misconception is that allopurinol is metabolized by its target, xanthine oxidase, but this action is principally carried out by Aldehyde oxidase. The active metabolite of allopurinol is oxypurinol, which is also an inhibitor of xanthine oxidase. Allopurinol is almost completely metabolized to oxypurinol within two hours of oral administration, whereas oxypurinol is slowly excreted by the kidneys over 18–30 hours. For this reason, oxypurinol is believed responsible for the majority of allopurinol's effect.
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