Excretion of free and conjugated acetaminophen; assessment in urine of female volunteers

ABSTRACT

Acetaminophen [Paracetamol] was given orally to 08 normal female volunteers of 20-22 years age and 48-62 kg body weight and the excretion of free/unchanged and conjugated drug was determined in urine by a spectrophotometric method. Normal urine pH ranged from 4.03 to 6.16 and the rate of urine flow was 0.007 to 0.036 ml/min.kg body weight. The mean +/- SD values for the cumulative% age of the dose excreted in 24 hours urine as total drug was 54.1 +/- 15.5, free or unchanged 28.7 +/- 9.10 and the conjugated metabolites were 27.3 +/- 13.7%. The excretion rate of the drug did not show any relationship with the rate of urine flow [diuresis] and pH of the urine. The observed values for the urinary excretion of the drug and metabolites are different than the values recorded in literature