Fate and distribution of radioactive sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (Imuthiol) in the mouse

The distribution of 35S in mouse tissues has been investigated by radioactivity counts and by autoradiography after the intravenous injection of 35S-labeled imuthiol (sodium diethyldithiocarbamate). Radioactive Imuthiol is selectively localized on liver, thymus and brain neocortex, most likely as the methyl ester, within minutes after dosing. Lung or white brain matter did not fix the labeled thiol. Blood, kidney and guts show rapid elimination patterns, and can be considered as passage organs which did not fix Imuthiol. The findings are consistent with the immunopharmacological data which demonstrate that Imuthiol exerts its T-cell recruiting and activating influence through a multi-step pathway involving the brain neocortex, the thymus and the liver.