Metabolism of C14-diethylstilbestrol in the chicken: conversion in vivo.

Cockerels were each injected with 10 μ of C14-labeled diethylstilbestrol (DES), and blood, liver, ingesta, feces-urine and bile were collected after 6 hours, extracted and fractionated to separate the metabolites of the compound into conjugates, acids, phenols and neutrals. The C14 content of each of these fractions was determined, as was the radioactivity in fractions separated after acid hydrolysis of the tissue extracts. The major portion of the DES was in the form of a conjugate, presumably a glucuronide. The highest percentage of conjugation was in the bile and the blood. Conjugation occurred to a lesser extent in the liver and the ingesta, and the least conjugation occurred in the excreta. Excreta had the most diversified metabolites with respect to distribution and chemical nature.