Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and its metabolite, dimethyl sulfone (DMSO₂), ex-creted in the urine of rat were determined quantitatively after administration of DMSO using gas chromatograph equipped with a flame photometric detector (FPD).
The results obtained were as follows:
1) DMSO and DMSO₂ were well separated using the column packed with 5% polyethylene glycol (20M) on Shimalite W (60-80 mesh).
2) Very small amount of DMSO and DMSO₂ could be determined by using gas chromatograph equipped with FPD by which analytical sensitivity of sulphur com-pounds had increased compared with a flame ionization detector (FID) because of its specific response.
3) The rats treated with intraperitoneal injection of 0.55g/kg DMSO excreted 75.21% of DMSO and 13.64% of DMSO₂ in the urine during 8 days.