Mice and rats were injected with tracer doses of radioactive N tau-[Me-14C]methylhistidine in order to determine the recovery of the injected radioactivity and the extent of the metabolism of N tau-methylhistidine. In the first 27 h after injection, 96.3, 78.0 and 97.5% of radioactivity was excreted by female mice, male mice and male rats respectively. Recovery after 5 days of collection was 98.4 and 92.8% for female and male mice respectively. However, radioactivity associated with N tau-methylhistidine or its acetylated derivative accounted for 44, 86.5 and 96.0% of the excreted radioactivity for female mice, male mice and rats respectively. In female mice the remaining excreted radioactivity was associated with four major peaks of activity when the metabolites were separated by cation-exchange chromatography. In male mice there were only three of these metabolites present. After chromatographic purification, one metabolite was identified by mass spectroscopy to be 1-methylimidazole-4-acetic acid. Examination of the possible sources of this metabolite indicates that, in mice, N tau-methylhistidine is decarboxylated and enters the chain of reactions common to histamine metabolism. Such extensive metabolism precludes the use of N tau-methylhistidine excretion as an index of myofibrillar protein breakdown in mice.