The biliary elimination of sulfamerazin in rat and man--a comparison

Sulfamerazin (S) was given to rats (380 mumol kg-1 body wt, i.v.) and to man (95 mumol kg-1, orally). Bile was collected from the common bile duct in both rats and man (T-tube drain) for 21 and 28 hours, respectively. The calculated amount of S eliminated by bile was seven-times higher in the rat (8.4% of the given dose) than in man. This is the consequence of the higher concentration ratio bile to blood in the rat (0.95) compared with man (0.31) as well as of the differences in bile flow rate of 0.046 and 0.0082 ml min-1 kg-1 in rat and man, respectively.