Studies on the N-dealkylation of nitrogen mustard and triethylenemelamine by liver homogenates.

administration, most of the radioactivity appeared in the urine during the same period. Comparison of specific activities and differential distribution ra tios in organs after short-term and long-term ex periments with either drug indicated a selective uptake of radioactivity by liver, kidneys, and lungs immediately after administration. No selec tive uptake, however, was observed in any tissue or tumor 24 hours after the injection. These ob servations led to the postulate that the majority of the injected TEM or HN2 was rapidly degraded ¿TI »icoand subsequently eliminated in fragments or in a noncytotoxic form. Earlier studies on the fate of the N-methyl-C14