IDENTIFICATION OF SELECTED METABOLITES OF SKATOLE IN PLASMA AND URINEFROM PIGS

During investigation of the kinetics of skatole in pigs, it was observ ed that some pigs, which are poor metabolizers of skatole (3-methylind ole), are incapable of forming a metabolite named MII. This lead to th e hypothesis that incidents of boar taint in Danish pigs could at leas t be due partly to polymorphism in one of the P-450 isoenzymes respons ible for the oxidative metabolism of skatole. To further investigate t he metabolism of skatole in pigs, selected metabolites of skatole were isolated and identified. Three major metabolites of skatole were isol ated from urine from pigs given [C-14]-skatole (5 mg/kg). The metaboli tes were identified using mass spectroscopy (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy as 6-sulfatoxyskatole (MII), 3-hydroxy-3- methyloxindole (MIII), and the mercapturate adduct of skatole, 3-[(N-a cetylcysteine-S-yl)methyl]indole (MX). MII and MIII are found both in plasma. and urine, MX is only found in urine.