The elimination profiles of oxaprozin in equine urine and serum after a 4.8-g dose.

A method for the extraction of oxaprozin from equine urine and serum and its quantitation by high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection is presented. Confirmation of oxaprozin in postadministration extracts was accomplished by gas chromatographic- mass spectrometric analysis of methylated extracts or liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry daughter ion mass spectra of underivatized extracts. Daypro, a formulation of oxaprozin, was administered orally at a dose of 4.8 g to four standardbred mares. Urine and serum samples were collected to 120 h postadministration. Base hydrolysis of equine urine before extraction resulted in an increase in the amount of oxaprozin measured, an indication of conjugation by ester formation. The urinary elimination profiles of each horse were significantly different from each other with more than one peak in oxaprozin concentration before the 29-31-h collection time. After this collection time, the differences between the oxaprozin urinary concentrations of each horse follow each other more closely. The peak average urinary concentrations of oxaprozin were 25.1 and 17.0 microg/mL at collection times of 8-10 and 18-22 h, respectively. The latest detection of oxaprozin in urine was at the last collection time of 119-121 h postadministration at a concentration close to the detection limit of approximately 0.1 microg/mL. The serum elimination profiles do not vary between horses as much as the urinary elimination profiles. The peak average serum concentration was 49.0 microg/mL at a collection time of 6 h postadministration. The latest detection was at the last collection time of 120 h. Oxaprozin is metabolized in the horse by hydroxylation. Two major urinary metabolites were isolated and identified as hydroxylated oxaprozin. The two urinary metabolites were isolated from equine postadministration urine and analyzed by mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which showed that the hydroxylation had occurred at the para positions of the two aromatic rings.