Excretion rates of sulfamethoxazole and N4-acetyl-sulfamethoxazole by fresh water turtles Pseudemys scripta elegans.

Sulfamethoxazole and N4-acetylsulfamethoxazole are excreted by fresh water turtles Pseudemys scripta elegans in a biphasic mode, characterized half-lives of 5 and 100 min. Acetylation and deacetylation reactions cannot be detected below a dose of 50 mg/kg. The mass balance of the dose administered is incomplete, only 30 per cent of the dose can be recovered as parent compound and metabolite. The sulfonamides must be mainly excreted by the faeces and may be metabolized in the gastro-intestinal tract.