Metabolic Conversion of Foreign Compounds

During biotransformation involving activation and detoxication processes, foreign compounds are metabolized to form more polar products so as to facilitate their elimination from the body. Particularly, the conversion of lipophilic, non-polar species to polar, water-soluble, hydrophilic compounds is essential to facilitate their excretion from the body through urea or bile. Metabolic processes include phase I metabolism engaging in functionalization reactions, phase II metabolism involving conjugation reactions, and phase III metabolism eliminating metabolites from the body.