The metabolism of xylazine in rats

Abstract

The biotransformation of xylazine, a widly used animal tranquilizer, was investigated in rats. After administration of xylazine, the existence of 2,6-dimethylphenylisothiocyanate, 2,6-dimenthyl-4-hydroxy-aniline and p-hydroxy-xylazine in urine was confirmed by the comparison with chemically prepared standards in GC/MS. The main metabolite, p-hydroxy xylazine was excreted as conjugated form.