Metabolic disposition of 14C-metanil yellow in guinea pigs

The absorption, metabolism and excretion of 14C-metanil yellow was studied in guinea pigs. Following administration of a single po dose of 5 mg dye (7.6 mu Ci)/kg body weight, 83.4% was excreted through urine and feces within 96 h with the majority accounted for in feces. Liver, kidney and spleen did not have marked accumulation of counts, whereas testes and gastrointestinal tract retained 1.9 and 9.7% of the radioactivity, respectively. Analysis of urine and feces detected 2 azo-reduction metabolites of metanil yellow which were characterized by TLC and IR, NMR and mass spectroscopic studies as metanilic acid and p-aminodiphenylamine.