Barbital N-glucoside is not detected as a urinary excretion product of barbital in humans

A study was undertaken to determine if humans excreted barbital N-glucoside as a urinary metabolite following oral administration of barbital. A liquid chromatography method using gradient elution was developed for detecting and quantifying barbital N-glucoside and barbital in urine. Following a single oral dose of barbital to male caucasian and oriental subjects that had previously been shown to excrete amobarbital and phenobarbital N-glucosides, no barbital N-glucoside conjugate was observed in the urine. This result indicates that N-glucosylation of barbiturates is not a general pathway for the biodisposition of barbiturates in man.