Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Medication most commonly used to treat gout
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
Report a side effect
Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Official medicine documents
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
View Drug Analysis Profile
Suspected adverse reactions reported for Colchicine
Browse all iDAP reports
Interactive Drug Analysis Profiles for all medicines
Report a side effect
Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) collects suspected adverse reaction reports from across the EU/EEA through the EudraVigilance system. Search for safety data on this medicine.
View EudraVigilance report
Suspected adverse reactions reported for Colchicine
About EudraVigilance
Learn about EU pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring
EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
25 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Colchicine on the MHRA register
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
Colchicine 500microgram tablets
This is the NHS Drug Tariff indicative price used for reimbursement purposes. It may not reflect the price paid by patients or pharmacies.
View full Drug TariffSource: NHS Drug Tariff via NHSBSA. Derived from dm+d VMPP (Virtual Medicinal Product Pack) pricing data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
WHO defined daily dose (DDD)
1 mg
Not a recommended dose. The DDD is the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults. It is a statistical measure used for research and comparison purposes only.
Source: WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology, distributed via the NHS dm+d supplementary BNF/ATC mapping files (NHSBSA). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NICE clinical guidance(4)
Gout: diagnosis and management (NG219)
COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing COVID-19 (NG191)
CaRi-Heart for predicting cardiac risk in suspected coronary artery disease: early value assessment (HTG663)
Vitamin B12 deficiency in over 16s: diagnosis and management (NG239)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
Pharmacy stock checkers
Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF code shown is the factual mapping value distributed by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the dm+d supplementary file under OGL v3.0; it is not affiliated with, nor licensed from, the publishers of the British National Formulary. ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 36 · Randomised trials: 11 · 2012–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
A. Fiolet, T. Opstal, A. Mosterd, et al.
European heart journal, 2021
S. Stewart, Kevin Chih Kai Yang, Kate Atkins, et al.
Arthritis Research & Therapy, 2020
D. Tong, S. Quinn, A. Nasis, et al.
Circulation, 2020
A. Brucato, M. Imazio, M. Gattorno, et al.
JAMA, 2016
M. I. Lopes, L. Bonjorno, M. Giannini, et al.
RMD Open, 2021
P. Horby, M. Campbell, E. Spata, et al.
The Lancet. Respiratory Medicine, 2021
I. Ben-Zvi, O. Kukuy, E. Giat, et al.
Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2017
Binita Shah, M. Pillinger, Hua Zhong, et al.
Circulation. Cardiovascular interventions, 2020
T. Hennessy, L. Soh, M. Bowman, et al.
American heart journal, 2019
C. Lennerz, M. Barman, M. Tantawy, et al.
International journal of cardiology, 2017
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
76 found
Half-life
26.6 to 31.2 hours
Mechanism
The exact mechanism of action of colchicine has not been fully established; howe…
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
1 target
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
45%
[L8138]…
Half-life
0.6 mg
Protein binding
5%
[L8192][L47591]…
Volume of distribution
5-8 L/kg
Metabolism
5%
Elimination
1 mg
Clearance
0.6 mg
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
[L8138]
It is also indicated to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, coronary revascularization, and cardiovascular death in adult patients with established atherosclerotic disease or with multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
[L47591]
Some off-label uses of colchicine include the treatment of the manifestations of Behcet's syndrome, pericarditis, and postpericardiotomy syndrome.
[A183932][A183935]
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 1159 interactions
[L8189]
Acute overdose exceeding 0.5 mg/kg (35 mg for a 70 kg average adult) is usually fatal. Fatalities have been reported with as little as 7 mg.
[L47591]
Colchicine poisoning presents in three sequential and usually overlapping phases. The first stage of acute colchicine toxicity typically occurs within 24 hours of ingestion and includes gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and significant fluid loss, leading to volume depletion.
Peripheral leukocytosis may also be seen. The second stage develops 24 to 72 hours after ingestion and is characterized by multi-organ failure. Death is usually a result of respiratory depression and cardiovascular collapse.
Recovery may be accompanied by rebound leukocytosis about one week after ingestion.
[L8138][L47591]
No specific antidote is known. Elimination of toxins by gastric lavage followed by activated charcoal should be attempted within 1-2 hours of ingestion. Colchicine is not effectively removed by hemodialysis.
[L8138][L47591]
Colchicine is an anti-mitotic drug that disrupts cytoskeletal functions by inhibiting β-tubulin polymerization into microtubules. Consequently, it prevents the activation, degranulation, and migration of neutrophils. This pharmacological action is thought to be related to colchicine ameliorating gout symptoms and preventing major cardiovascular events.[L8138][L47591] Colchicine blocks microtubule growth at low concentrations and causes the depolymerization of microtubules at high concentrations.[A183602]
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[L8138]
The bioavailability of colchicine is about 45%:[L8138][L47591] one study suggests that colchicine bioavailability is highly variable, ranging from 24 to 88%.
[A183608]
In healthy adults, the mean Cmax of 2.5 ng/mL (range 1.1 to 4.4 ng/mL) was achieved in one to two hours (range 0.5 to 3 hours) after a single dose administered under fasting conditions.
[L8138]
In a multiple-dose study of colchicine administration at a dose of 1 mg per day, steady-state concentrations were achieved by day 8 following administration.
[A183608]
Administration of colchicine with food does not affect the colchicine absorption rate but decreases the extent of colchicine by approximately 15%.
[L8138]
[L8138]
Another study reported the elimination half-life ranging to be 20 to 40 hours.
[A183608]
[L8192][L47591]
[L8138]
Colchicine has been found to distribute to various tissues, mainly into the bile, liver, and kidney tissues. Smaller amounts have been detected in the heart, lungs, intestinal tissue, and stomach.
[L8192]
[L8138][L8192]
Plasma levels of these metabolites are less than 5% of parent drug.
[L47591]
[A11504][L8138]
[L8138]
In a pharmacokinetic study of patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), the apparent mean clearance was calculated at 0.726 ± 0.110 L/h/kg.
[A183953]
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
Proteins that transport this drug across cell membranes
PMID:2897240 PMID:35970996 PMID:8898203 PMID:9038218 PMID:35507548
Catalyzes the flop of phospholipids from the cytoplasmic to the exoplasmic leaflet of the apical membrane. Participates mainly to the flop of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, beta-D-glucosylceramides and sphingomyelins .
PMID:8898203
Energy-dependent efflux pump responsible for decreased drug accumulation in multidrug-resistant cells PMID:2897240 PMID:35970996 PMID:9038218
Proteins that carry this drug through the body
PMID:19021548
Major calcium and magnesium transporter in plasma, binds approximately 45% of circulating calcium and magnesium in plasma (By similarity).
Potentially has more than two calcium-binding sites and might additionally bind calcium in a non-specific manner (By similarity). The shared binding site between zinc and calcium at residue Asp-273 suggests a crosstalk between zinc and calcium transport in the blood (By similarity). The rank order of affinity is zinc > calcium > magnesium (By similarity).
Binds to the bacterial siderophore enterobactin and inhibits enterobactin-mediated iron uptake of E.coli from ferric transferrin, and may thereby limit the utilization of iron and growth of enteric bacteria such as E.coli .
PMID:6234017
Does not prevent iron uptake by the bacterial siderophore aerobactin PMID:6234017
ATC M04AC51
ATC M04AC01
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Show
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Colchicine
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
6760
ChemSpider
5933
BindingDB
50014846
PDB
LOC
Guide to Pharmacology
2367
ZINC
ZINC000000621853
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:20778
GenAtlas
TUBB
GeneCards
TUBB
GenBank Gene Database
J00314
GenBank Protein Database
338695
Guide to Pharmacology
2640
UniProt Accession
TBB5_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2637
GenAtlas
CYP3A4
GeneCards
CYP3A4
GenBank Gene Database
M18907
Guide to Pharmacology
1337
UniProt Accession
CP3A4_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2615
GeneCards
CYP2B6
GenBank Gene Database
M29874
GenBank Protein Database
181296
Guide to Pharmacology
1324
UniProt Accession
CP2B6_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2622
GenAtlas
CYP2C8
GeneCards
CYP2C8
GenBank Gene Database
M17397
Guide to Pharmacology
1325
UniProt Accession
CP2C8_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2631
GeneCards
CYP2E1
GenBank Gene Database
J02625
GenBank Protein Database
181360
Guide to Pharmacology
1330
UniProt Accession
CP2E1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:399
GenAtlas
ALB
GeneCards
ALB
GenBank Gene Database
V00494
GenBank Protein Database
28590
UniProt Accession
ALBU_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:40
GenAtlas
ABCB1
GeneCards
ABCB1
GenBank Gene Database
M14758
GenBank Protein Database
307180
Guide to Pharmacology
768
UniProt Accession
MDR1_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications:
Show earlier publications
Structured knowledge from the free knowledge base
Molecular structure
ATC classifications (Wikidata)
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q326224), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. Molecular structure images from Wikimedia Commons.