Absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of 4-acetylaminophenylacetic acid (MS-932) were studied in mice, rats, dogs and monkeys after intravenous or oral administration of 5 or 10 mg/kg of 14C-MS-932. After the intravenous injection of 14C-MS-932, the radioactivity concentrations in the plasma decreased biexponentially. The half-lives of the elimination phase (t1/2, beta) were 2.58 h for mice, 2.35 h for rats, 1.88 h for dogs and 1.24 h for monkeys. After the oral administration of 14C-MS-932, the radioactivity concentrations in the plasma reached maximums between 0.4 and 1.3 h, thereafter decreasing with half-lives similar to those found for the intravenous injection. The systemic availability of this drug was 72-100% in all the species tested. No clear sex-related difference in radioactivity concentrations was found in rat plasma. After both intravenous and oral administrations, in all the species tested, almost all the radioactivity administered was excreted in the urine. Biliary excretion of radioactivity in bile duct-cannulated rats was only 1.42% of the intravenous dose over a 24-h period. Lymphatic absorption of radioactivity was negligible (0.2% of the dose over a 6-h period). After oral administration of 14C-MS-932, the radioactivity concentrations in the rat tissues tested reached maximums within 1 h, decreasing rapidly thereafter similar to the decrease in the concentration in the plasma. Much higher concentrations were present in the kidney and gastro-intestinal tract than in the plasma, whereas the concentrations in the other tissues were lower. Results obtained by whole-body autoradiography were consistent with those obtained for the radioactivity in excised tissues.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)