The kinetics of the urinary excretion of the N-oxide and glucuronides of methaqualone in man.

The urinary excretion of the N-oxide and the glucuronides of five C-monohydroxy metabolites of methaqualone has been studied following the oral administration of a single dose of the drug. The apparent first order rate constants for the excretion of each metabolite (kme) were shown to be numerically smaller than the overall elimination rate constant for methaqualone (k10). The Kme values tended to be greater than or equal to the corresponding apparent first order rate constants for the formation of the metabolite (km) but corresponding kme and km values were always of the same order magnitude. The kme values for the glucuronides were much smaller than the literature kme value for paracetemol glucuronide. The rate of renal elimination of the metabolites was variably sensitive to urine flow but over a period of time of 8 hours or greater the total amount of metabolite recovered in the urine was was independent of the total urine volume.