Abstract

The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxen is primarily metabolized in humans by acyl glucuronidation to form naproxen acyl glucuronide and by O-dealkylation to form 6-O-desmethylnaproxen (DMN). DMN contains both carboxy and phenolic groups and has been shown to form acyl glucuronide and sulfate conjugates. This project aimed to investigate whether DMN formed a phenolic glucuronide and diglucuronide(s) (with both the carboxy and phenolic groups glucuronidated). Male Sprague-Dawley rats (300–350 g) with exteriorized bile flow were dosed i.v. with DMN at 50 mg/kg. Four major DMN-related peaks were detected in bile by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis at 225 nm, including the known acyl glucuronide and sulfate conjugates. Selective hydrolyses using acidic and alkaline conditions and digestion with β-glucuronidase allowed tentative identification of the two unknown peaks as the phenolic glucuronide of DMN and a novel acyl glucuronide-sulfate diconjugate of DMN (i.e., formed by sulfonation of the phenolic group and glucuronidation of the carboxy group). The identities were confirmed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of individual HPLC fractions. Total recovery of the DMN dose was approximately 80%, with the sulfate conjugate (50%) and unchanged DMN (10%) being excreted predominantly in urine and the acyl glucuronide (10%), phenolic glucuronide (6%), and acyl glucuronide-sulfate diconjugate (4%) being excreted predominantly or exclusively in bile. No evidence for a diglucuronide metabolite of DMN was found in either bile or urine of the DMN-dosed rats.