Original Article

Demethylation metabolism of roxithromycin in humans and rats

Xue-Qing Li, Da-Fang Zhong, Hai-Hua Huang, Shuo-Dong Wu

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the demethylated metabolites of roxithromycin (RXM) in humans and rats, and to study the antibiotic activity of these metabolites in vitro.
Methods: The demethylated metabolites of RXM in humans and in rats were identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and the in vitro antibiotic activities of them against three standard strains were also studied compared with those of the parent drug and some other metabolites of RXM.
Results: O-Demethylation of RXM was one of the main metabolic routes of RXM in humans, whereas N-demethylation metabolism was more predominant in rats. O-Demethyl-RXM appeared to be equally effective with RXM.
Conclusion: The O-demethyl-RXM was an active metabolite in humans, and there were some species differences in RXM demethylation metabolism between humans and rats.
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