PARACETAMOL ELIMINATION IN CHINESE AND INDIANS IN SINGAPORE

The 24 h urinary excretion of paracetamol and its conjugates after oral administration of about 15 mg/kg was studied in 24 Chinese and 24 Indian healthy young adult male volunteers living in Singapore. The Indians excreted a significantly lower fraction of sulphate conjugate (28.9 % compared to 35.9 % in the Chinese), and a correspondingly higher fraction as glucuronide conjugate (62.2 % compared to 54.5 % in the Chinese). There was no difference between the ethnic groups in terms of the urinary recovery of unchanged paracetamol (Indians 3.4 %, Chinese 3.6 %), glutathione-derived cysteine (Indians 2.3 % and Chinese 2.2 %) and mercapturic acid (Indians 3.6 %, Chinese 3.8 %) conjugates. The total fraction of administered paracetamol recovered in the urine was 84.7 % and 85.7 % in the Indian and the Chinese groups, respectively. Although the total glutathione derived conjugates recovered in the two ethnic groups were similar (Indians 5.9 %, Chinese 6 % ), the values were lower than those reported previously for Caucasians in Scotland (9.3 %).