Metabolism of iodomethane in the rat

1. The LD(50) of iodomethane orally administered to rats is 76mg./kg. body wt. but repeated daily doses of 30-50mg./kg. body wt. are without effect. 2. Oral doses of iodomethane to rats are rapidly converted into S-methylglutathione in the liver, and S-methylglutathione is excreted in the bile. 3. The conjugation process has been reproduced in vitro and shown to be enzymically catalysed. 4. S-Methylglutathione is degraded to S-methylcysteine by kidney homogenates. 5. Only a small proportion of a dose of iodomethane or of S-methylcysteine is excreted as compounds related to methylmercapturic acid. 6. Paper chromatography of extracts of livers from normal and dosed rats supports the view that GSH is the predominant non-protein thiol present.