The Metabolism of Ethylene Dibromide in the Rat I. Identification of Detoxification Products in Urine

Abstract

Abstract The metabolism of ethylene dibromide (EDB) has been studied after administration of this compound to rats by stomach tube. N‐acetyl‐S‐(β‐hydroxyethyl)cysteine was isolated from the urine of EDB‐dosed rats. The identity of this compound with synthetic N‐acetyl‐S‐(β‐ hydroxyethyl)cysteine was proved by chromatographic and electrophoretic methods and by identification of the products obtained by acid and alkaline hydrolysis, by enzymatic hydrolysis and oxidation to a sulfoxide. The second metabolite found in the urine in small amounts was proved to be identical with synthetic S‐(β‐hydroxyethyl)cysteine. The products of hydrolysis and oxidation obtained from the two compounds were shown by chromatography to be the same. The symmetric S‐S'‐ethylene‐bis‐( N ‐acetyl) cysteine has not been found in the urine of EDB‐treated rats. When ethylene dichloride or ethylene bromohydrin was administered to rats, the same metabolites were detected in the urine as after EDB poisoning.