Depletion kinetics of 14C-sulfamethazine [4-amino-N-(4, 6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidinyl)benzene[U-14C]sulfonamide] metabolism in swine.

Swine weighing 60-70 kg were orally administered 14C-sulfamethazine [4-amino-N-(4,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidinyl)benzene[U-14C]sulfonamide] at 12-hr intervals for 7 days (165 mg/dose; 0.126-5.04 mCi/mmol). The animals were sacrificed at 8 hr or 2, 5, or 10 days after the last dose was given and tissues were assayed for total 14C activity. The presence of 14C-labeled sulfamethazine, N4-acetylsulfamethazine, desaminosulfamethazine, and the N4-glucose conjugate of sulfamethazine in blood, liver, kidney, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue was verified by HPLC and GC-MS analysis. Total 14C residue levels in all tissues examined had dropped to less than 0.1 ppm sulfamethazine equivalents by day 10 of the depletion period. The mean half-life (t1/2) for sulfamethazine, the N4-glucose conjugate of sulfamethazine, and N4-acetylsulfamethazine was estimated to be 0.8 day. In some tissues, the depletion of the N4-glucose conjugate of sulfamethazine and N4-acetylsulfamethazine had decreased significantly between days 5 and 10, resulting in an approximate doubling of the t1/2 for that period. In contrast, the half-life of desaminosulfamethazine varied from a mean of 0.96 day during the 8-hr-5-day depletion period to 3.7-9.1 days during the 5- 10-day depletion period. In most tissues, the t1/2 for the 14C-activity in the methanol-insoluble fraction increased by 3-5-fold between days 5 and 10 of the depletion period. No predictable relationship was observed between blood sulfamethazine or metabolite levels and total residue levels in the tissues.