Mercapturic Acid Formation in the Developing Rat

Abstract

1. Young female rats dosed with 1-bromo[1-¹⁴C]propane excrete the same metabolites as adult females but in different relative proportions. Propyl-cysteine was detected as one of the metabolites in rats of all ages studied but represented a higher proportion of the total metabolites excreted in rats aged 5 and 11 days.

2. Hepatic GSH-S-alkytransferase activity was low in females at birth increasing up to the age of about thirty days. No activity was detected in the livers of the males at birth and up to 6 days of age; thereafter the level of activity increased up to 35–40 days.

3. Propylcysteine was excreted as propylmercapturic acid and propyl-mercapturic acid sulphoxide by female rats of all ages. The amount of sulph-oxide excreted relative to mercapturic acid excreted was higher in rats up to the age of 16 days than in older animals.