Dimethyl sulfoxide: recent pharmacological and toxicological research.

A survey of the literature published in the past 2 decades on the basic pharmacology, therapeutic uses and toxicity of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is presented. A salient pharmacological action of DMSO is its ability to scavenge oxygen-free radicals implicated in xenobiotic-induced tissue damages when given before, during or several hours after the tissue insult. More trials with DMSO in diseases and conditions caused by oxygen-free radicals are warranted.