Succimer (Dimercaptosuccinic acid) (Synonyms: DMSA, Succimer)

Animal experiment:

All experiments are performed with Fisher 344 male rats weighing 75 to 100 g. The animals are randomized into four groups. Group I (n=11) serves as the control and is given only standard rat chow and water for 6 weeks. Group II (n=11) receives 2000 ppm lead acetate in its drinking water for 5 weeks and, during the 6th week, this group receives water. Group III (n=6) receives 2000 ppm lead acetate in its drinking water for 5 weeks and, during the 6th week, these animals receive 800 mg/kg/day NAC dissolved in water. Group IV (n=6) is treated like group III, except that it receives 90 mg/kg/day Succimer during the last week. At the end of the 6th week, after overnight fasting, the animals are anesthetized with metofane and blood samples are collected via intracardiac puncture using heparin as an anticoagulant. Plasma and the buffy coat are removed by centrifugation for 10 min at 3000 rpm. The RBCs are washed three times with an equal volume of cold saline[1].

References:

[1]. Gürer H, et al. Antioxidant effects of N-acetylcysteine and succimer in red blood cells from lead-exposed rats. Toxicology. 1998 Jul 17;128(3):181-9.
[2]. Beaudin SA, et al. Succimer chelation normalizes reactivity to reward omission and errors in lead-exposed rats. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2007 Mar-Apr;29(2):188-202.