Thirty-eight healthy subjects were given single oral doses of debrisoquine and sparteine in a crossover study. The close correlation between urinary metabolic ratios of the two drugs (rs = 0.91; P less than 0.001) demonstrates that the polymorphic N-oxidation of sparteine and 4-hydroxylation of debrisoquine are related pharmacogenetic entities; the metabolism of the two drugs is regulated by identical or closely related genetic factors.