Metabolism of doxylamine succinate in Fischer 344 rats. Part I: Distribution and excretion.

Experiments were conducted with male and female rats (12 per group) dosed by gavage with 2 or 20 mg (based on the free amine) doxylamine succinate containing about 10 microCi 14C-doxylamine succinate to determine distribution and excretion of the activity as a function of dose and sex with time. Urine and feces were collected at intervals up to 72 hr. Most of the dose (approximately equal to 70%) was eliminated in the first 24 hr after dosing and 95 to 100% of the dose was recovered during the 72-hr course of the experiments with both sexes and dose levels. Less than 1% of the total dose remained in the rats at the end of the test period. The urinary route of elimination was more predominant than the fecal route in both sexes given the 20-mg dose. The fecal route predominates in low-dose males whereas there is no significant difference between urinary and fecal routes of elimination in low-dose females. Preliminary characterization of urinary metabolite form using extraction techniques shows 99% of the metabolites to be in the polar conjugated form.