In vivo metabolism of dimethylformamide and relationship to toxicity in the male rat

✍ Scribed by Véronique Scailteur; Robert Lauwerys

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 377 KB
• Volume: 56
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0340-5761
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00349077

✦ Synopsis

After in vivo administration of dimethylformamide (DMF) to male rats, about 50% of the dose is excreted in urine as N-hydroxymethyl-N-methylformamide (DMF-OH) and about 4% as N-methylformamide (NMF). NMF is not a product of DMF-OH biotransformation but is directly formed from DMF. Comparison of the acute toxicity of DMF, DMF-OH and NMF shows that NMF is more toxic than DMF-OH, which is itself more toxic than DMF. This study explains the different toxicity profile of DMF and NMF which until recently was believed to represent the main metabolite of DMF.