Concentration of dipropylacetate in plasma.

Dipropylacetate is absorbed rapidly and attains a maximum concentration in serum 1 to 3 hr after ingestion. Since its half-life is on the order of 8 to 10 hr, it must be prescribed three times a day, every 8 hr. It reaches a stable concentration in blood within 48 hr after treatment is begun (by contrast with diphenylhydantoin and phenobarbital) and might therefore be useful when seizures must be controlled quickly. The serum concentration can be altered by some other anticonvulsant drugs, but these interactions should be studied in more detail. The serum concentration varies considerably in the course of a day and from one day to the next in the same subject, which makes it difficult to adjust the blood level. Depamide is rapidly transformed in vivo to dipropylacetate.