Studies of acetaminophen and metabolites in urine and their correlations with toxicity using metabolomics.

A LC/MS-based metabolomic assay was utilized to investigate a drug's excretion kinetic profile in urine so that the drug toxicity information could be obtained. Groups of 10 male Sprague-Dawley rats per dose were orally gavaged with a single dose of 0.2% carboxymethylcellulose, 400 mg acetaminophen (APAP)/kg body weight or 1600 mg APAP/kg. UPLC/MS and NMR were used to evaluate the excretion kinetics of major drug metabolites. N-acetyl-L-cysteine acetaminophen (APAP-NAC) had statistically significant correlations with clinical chemistry data, endogenous metabolite concentrations and histopathology data. The potential toxicity of a drug can be assessed through the study of the drug's metabolite profiles.