Renal metabolism of salicylate and salicylurate

¹ Department of Pharmacology, University of Louisville, School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky

The renal metabolism of salicylate, salicylurate and p-aminohippurate (PAH) is examined to establish whether all three compounds share similar renal excretory mechanisms. The experimental data are collated with recorded observations of other investigators. In renal cortical slices, salicylurate is actively accumulated but salicylate is not. Slice to medium concentration ratios for salicylurate (as for PAH) are increased by acetate, and decreased by probenecid and by anoxia; under similar conditions, concentration ratios for salicylate remain unchanged. Both salicylate and salicylurate inhibit renal transport of PAH, but the effect of salicylate is associated with an enhanced tissue respiratory rate, thereby differing from salicylurate. These findings suggest that the renal metabolism both of salicylurate and of PAH are similar if not identical and both differ from that of salicylate.