Formation of N-nitrosothiazolidine metabolites in isolated rat liver hepatocytes.

2[ (14)C]N- Nitrosothiazolidine was metabolized in hepatocytes prepared from the liver of a male Sprague-Dawley rat. The metabolites were separated into non-acidic, acidic and aqueous fractions. Radioactive metabolites were found predominantly in the non-acidic fraction, which possessed 98.9% of the total radioactivity. Analysis of the non-acidic fraction with HPLC and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry allowed the identification of two major components in this fraction; They were 2-hydroxythiazolidine and unmetabolized original N-nitrosothiazolidine, which possessed 34.3% and 61.2% of total radioactivity, respectively.