Distribution, metabolism, and irreversible binding of hexamethylmelamine in mice bearing ovarian carcinoma

The covalent binding of hexamethylmelamine (HMM) and its metabolites was studied in liver, tumor, blood, kidney, spleen, lung, brain, heart, and small intestine after a single IP injection of 2,4,6-¹⁴C-hexamethylmelamine (50 mg/kg) to C57Bl/6J female mice bearing 20-day-old M5076/73A ovarian cancer. Covalent binding to tissue macromolecules was measured 2, 10, and 40 h after injection of the drug. At 2 h liver and small intestine showed the highest levels of irreversibly bound metabolites, the lowest being found in brain and heart. Except in the small intestine, where a decrease was observed between 2 and 10 h, the level of covalent binding was constant up to 40 h. HMM metabolism was also studied. Tissue distribution of pentamethylmelamine (PMM), 2,2,4,6-tetramethylmelamine (TMM), and 2,4,6-trimethylmelamine (TriMM) was determined at the three times considered. At 2 h the drug was already extensively metabolized, TriMM being the major metabolite among those determined.