Furosemide 1-O-acyl glucuronide. In vitro biosynthesis and pH-dependent isomerization to beta-glucuronidase-resistant forms.

A biosynthetic acyl-type glucuronic acid conjugate of furosemide was isolated from in vitro incubation of pregnenolone-16 alpha-carbonitrile-induced rat liver microsomes containing UDP-glucuronyltransferase activity, furosemide, and UDP-glucuronic acid. Furosemide 1-O-acyl glucuronide (FG) was specifically hydrolyzed by beta-glucuronidase (BG) and was also labile to alkaline hydrolysis. FG concentration decreased at an apparent first order rate when incubated at 37 degrees C in buffer solution of pH values greater than 6.0 with only moderate hydrolysis of the conjugate at pH values less than 8.5. Formation of rearrangement forms of FG that were resistant to BG but labile to alkaline hydrolysis accounted for most of the disappearance of FG at this pH range. Radiochemical labeling of the conjugate with either 14C-furosemide or 14C-UDP-glucuronic acid was detected in the BG-resistant isomerization products of FG as they were separated by HPLC. The structure of FG and its isomerization products was further verified by negative ion thermospray liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The abundant (M - 1)-ion at mass 505, the aglycone fragment at m/z 329, and the characteristic sugar fragment ion of mass 175 were found in the spectra of FG and three additional isomers. An ion at m/z 221 was noted only in the case of the parent conjugate and thus may prove to be a characteristic ion for 1-O-acyl-linked glucuronides under negative ion thermospray. In vivo as well as in vitro rearrangement of FG to BG-resistant forms might affect the results of furosemide disposition studies which use BG hydrolysis to determine FG formation.