After 14C-2,3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulfonic acid
(DMPS) is administered orally to rabbits, disulfide
metabolites of DMPS are identified in the urine, which
are cyclic polymeric disulfides of dimeric and trimeric
forms and acyclic polymeric disulfides of DMPS. One
of the acyclic disulfides is a DMPS dimer. The cyclic
disulfides increase with time, suggesting that the
acyclic forms are intermediates and oxidized to the
cyclic forms. The rapid formation of stable 8-
membered cyclic dimeric and 12-membered cyclic
trimeric disulfides of DMPS strongly suggests that
oxidation ? reductions are occurring. Both spontaneous
and enzymatic oxidation mechanisms appear to be
involved.
