Endogenously occurring damage to DNA is a contributing factor to the onset of several genetic diseases, including cancer. Monitoring urinary levels of DNA adducts is one approach to assess genomic exposure to endogenous damage. However, metabolism and alternative routes of elimination have not been considered as factors that may limit the detection of DNA adducts in urine. We recently demonstrated that the peroxidation-derived deoxyguanosine adduct, 3-(2-deoxy--D-erythropentofuranosyl)-pyrimido[1,2-␣]purine-10(3H)-one (M 1 dG), is subject to enzymatic oxidation in vivo resulting in the formation of a major metabolite, 6-oxo-M 1 dG. Based on the administration of [ 14 C]M 1 dG (22 Ci/kg) to Sprague-Dawley rats (n ؍ 4), we now report that 6-oxo-M 1 dG is the principal metabolite of M 1 dG in vivo representing 45% of the total administered dose. When [ 14 C]6-oxo-M 1 dG was administered to Sprague-Dawley rats, 6-oxo-M 1 dG was recovered unchanged (>97% stability). These studies also revealed that M 1 dG and 6-oxo-M 1 dG are subject to biliary elimination. Additionally, both M 1 dG and 6-oxo-M 1 dG exhibited a long residence time following administration (>48 h), and the major species observed in urine at late collections was 6-oxo-M 1 dG.Endogenously produced DNA damage is a contributing factor to the progression of several genetic diseases, including cancer (1, 2). Furthermore, there is a strong association between chronic inflammation and cancer risk (3). Assessing exposure to endogenously produced electrophiles and oxidants may have an impact in risk assessment (4). Monitoring the levels of DNA adducts in urine is a common approach used to assess exposure to genomic damaging agents. However, factors that may limit the detection of DNA adducts in urine (metabolism, routes of elimination, etc.) have not previously been investigated.3 is an endogenous pyrimidopurinone adduct formed by reacting deoxyguanosine with malondialdehyde, a product of enzymatic and nonenzymatic lipid peroxidation reactions, or base propenal, a DNA peroxidation product (5-11). This adduct is mutagenic in bacteria and mammalian cells (12-15) and is a substrate for nucleotide excision repair (13,16). It is also one of the first endogenously occurring DNA damage products to be detected in DNA of healthy humans (17). Prior attempts to quantify the levels of M 1 dG in human urine demonstrated an excretion rate of 12 fmol/kg/24 h (18). The rate of M 1 dG elimination in rats could not be determined, because the levels were below the limit of detection for the analytical method (19). The low rate of elimination in human populations and the absence of observed material in the urine of rats led us to hypothesize that factors such as metabolism (oxidation, conjugation, etc.) or alternative routes of elimination may limit the appearance of M 1 dG in urine.We recently demonstrated that M 1 dG is subject to oxidative metabolism in the rat to a principal metabolite, 6-oxo-M 1 dG (20). However, the total recovery and extent of metabolism in these studies...