# Metyrapone

Source: https://onco.cc/drugs/metyrapone/  
OnCo record `metyrapone` (Treatment). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Metyrapone is an older tablet that blocks cortisol production in the adrenal glands. It is used to bring cortisol down quickly in Cushing's disease before or after pituitary surgery, and in the United States mainly as a diagnostic test.

## Summary

Metyrapone has been used since the 1960s. In Europe it is licensed for the management of Cushing's syndrome, including Cushing's disease caused by a pituitary corticotroph adenoma, and is a mainstay for rapid pre-operative control of hypercortisolism or when surgery has failed. In the United States it is approved as a diagnostic agent for testing hypothalamic-pituitary ACTH function, and its therapeutic use is off-label.

It is taken several times a day and titrated against cortisol levels; adverse effects include nausea, dizziness, hirsutism and acne from androgen precursors, and hypertension and hypokalaemia from mineralocorticoid precursors. Osilodrostat is the newer, more potent inhibitor of the same enzyme. The pituitary tumours page names both.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: established
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Also known as: Metyrapone capsules
- Tags: subtype-drugs-wave
- Brand: Metopirone
- Modality: Oral 11-beta-hydroxylase inhibitor
- Mechanism: Inhibits adrenal 11-beta-hydroxylase, reducing cortisol synthesis; ACTH rises in response, so 11-deoxycortisol accumulates, which is the basis of its use as a test of pituitary reserve as well as a treatment.

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metyrapone
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metyrapone

## Connected records

- drugs: [Osilodrostat](https://onco.cc/drugs/osilodrostat/)
- cancers: [Pituitary tumours (pituitary neuroendocrine tumours) and pituitary carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/pituitary-tumours/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/metyrapone.json