What is DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, non-peptide solvent)?

A solvent that carries substances through skin and into the blood, described as a free-radical scavenger; not a peptide.

DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, non-peptide solvent) in the library · · Human Trials · What are peptides?

16 registered trials · 214 indexed papers · 223 human / 43 animal studies

From the PeptideWhiz library entry. "As described" sections summarize claims made in the sources; they are not PeptideWhiz endorsements.

What it is

DMSO is described as a polar solvent that dissolves almost anything, sugars, salts and fats, and carries what it dissolves through the skin and into the bloodstream, past barriers that stop most compounds.
It is also described as crossing the blood-brain barrier.

Mechanism (as described)

A very strong free-radical scavenger, a cellular-level anti-inflammatory and a protector of nerve cells.
It is described as calming overactive sodium channels in neurons, which is offered as the reason for its effect on nerve pain.
In brain injury, stroke and spinal cord injury it is described as lowering pressure inside the skull, restoring blood flow and protecting neurons; it is described as studied for these, with no study named.

Registered human trials (16)

Trial	Phase	Status	Year	Enrolled
Bond Strength Evaluation		completed	2025	30
Clinical Evaluation of Dimethyl Sulfoxide Wet Bonding Technique		not yet recruiting	2024	68
Impact of Dentin Pretreatment With Dimethyl Sulfoxide on Behavior of Resin Composite Restorations in Non-Carious Cervical Lesions		completed	2023	30
Acceleration of Orthodontic Tooth Movement	Phase 2/Phase 3	completed	2021	18
Clinical Evaluation of Dimethyl Sulfoxide Dentin Pre-treatment		completed	2020	24
Melatonin Cream Against Acute Radiation Dermatitis in Patients With Early Breast Cancer	Phase 2	completed	2019	48
Comparison of the Treatment of Refractory Bladder Pain Syndrome With DMSO and DMSO With Botulinum Toxin A	EARLY_Phase 1	completed	2015	2
DMSO for Prevention of Capsular Contraction in Alloplastic Breast Reconstruction	Phase 2/Phase 3	unknown	2014	110
Bladder Capacity as Objective Measure of Intravesical Treatment of Newly Diagnosed IC	Phase 4	completed	2011	83
A Safety and Immunogenicity Study of 3 Doses of Opal Immunotherapy in HIV Infected People	Phase 1	terminated	2010	22
Comparative Study Between Hyperbaric Therapy and Intravesical Dimethyl Sulfoxide Instillation for Interstitial Cystitis		unknown	2010	60
DMSO Efficacy in IC/PBS Patients During and After Treatment		unknown	2009	50
Over Active Bladder Instillation Study - Botox	Phase 3	terminated	2008	25
Botulin-A Toxin Instillations and Overactive Bladder	Phase 1/Phase 2	completed	2006	25
Trial Comparing Intravesical Cocktail With Intravesical Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) in Painful Bladder Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis (PBS/IC)	Phase 2	terminated	2006	10
Vaccine Therapy With or Without Imiquimod in Treating Patients Who Have Undergone Surgery for Stage II, Stage III, or Stage IV Melanoma	Phase 1	completed	2004

Peer-reviewed studies (214)

Paper	Authors	Journal	Year	Type
Clinical evaluation of composite restorations placed on dimethyl sulfoxide-treated cervical carious lesions: a 36-month randomized double-blind controlled trial	Ismail OA et al.	Journal of dentistry	2026	Randomized Controlled Trial
[Combination therapy for exacerbations of pain in osteoarthritis with non-fixed combinations]	Naumov AV et al.	Terapevticheskii arkhiv	2025	Randomized Controlled Trial
Using the Rise and Fall of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Post-Exercise to Evaluate the Effect of Methylsulfonylmethane Supplementation on Immune Response mRNA	McFarlin BK et al.	Nutrients	2025	Randomized Controlled Trial
THREE YEARS CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF LOW CONCENTRATION DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE PRIMER IN NON CARIOUS CERVICAL LESIONS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL	Ismail OA et al.	The journal of evidence-based dental practice	2025	Randomized Controlled Trial
A chewing gum containing ethylenediaminetetraaceticacid (EDTA), methyl sulfonyl methane (MSM) and xylitol works comparable to chlorehexidine mouthrinse	Shakhsi Niaee M et al.	Scientific reports	2024	Randomized Controlled Trial
Randomized placebo controlled trial of phytoterpenes in DMSO for the treatment of plantar fasciitis	Burke BE et al.	Scientific reports	2024	Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy and safety of intravesical dimethyl sulfoxide treatment for patients with refractory Hunner-type interstitial cystitis: Real-world data postofficial approval in Japan	Akiyama Y et al.	International journal of urology : official journal of the Japanese Urological Association	2024	Observational Study
[Comparative efficacy of a combination of undenatured type II collagen, Boswellic acids, methylsulfonylmethane, vitamins C and D(3) and a combination of chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine hydrochloride in the treatment of primary osteoarthritis of the knee joint]	Mazurov VI et al.	Terapevticheskii arkhiv	2023	Randomized Controlled Trial
A prospective, randomized trial comparing intravesical dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to bupivacaine, triamcinolone, and heparin (BTH), for newly diagnosed interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS)	Moss NP et al.	Neurourology and urodynamics	2023	Randomized Controlled Trial
The O'Leary-Sant Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Index is a clinically useful indicator of treatment outcome in patients with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome with Hunner lesions: A post hoc analysis of the Japanese phase III trial of KRP-116D, 50% dimethyl sulfoxide solution	Yoshimura N et al.	International journal of urology : official journal of the Japanese Urological Association	2022	Clinical Trial, Phase III
Effectiveness and safety of topical amphotericin B in 30% dimethyl sulfoxide cream versus 30% dimethyl sulfoxide cream for nondermatophyte onychomycosis treatment: A pilot study	Leeyaphan C et al.	Indian journal of dermatology, venereology and leprology	2022	Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy and safety of a supplement combination on hand pain among people with symptomatic hand osteoarthritis an internet-based, randomised clinical trial the RADIANT study	Liu X et al.	Osteoarthritis and cartilage	2021	Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy and safety of intravesical instillation of KRP-116D (50% dimethyl sulfoxide solution) for interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome in Japanese patients: A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical study	Yoshimura N et al.	International journal of urology : official journal of the Japanese Urological Association	2021	Randomized Controlled Trial
Intermixed Dimethyl-Sulfoxide-Based Nonadhesive Liquid Embolic Agents Delivered Serially via the Same Microcatheter for Cerebral AVM Treatment	Sirakov A et al.	AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology	2020	Clinical Trial
Efficacy of topical dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) 50% solution vs tretinoin 0.5% cream in treatment of patients with primary macular amyloidosis: A split-side single-blinded randomized clinical trial	Saki N et al.	Dermatologic therapy	2020	Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy and safety of a supplement combination for hand osteoarthritis pain: protocol for an internet-based randomised placebo-controlled trial (The RADIANT study)	Liu X et al.	BMJ open	2020	Clinical Study
Phase I study of KRP-116D, a [amount hidden] dimethyl sulfoxide aqueous solution, on the systemic absorption from bladder by intravesical instillation in healthy Japanese subjects	Shimada H et al.	Lower urinary tract symptoms	2020	Clinical Trial, Phase I
Pharmacokinetic assessment of constituents of Boswellia serrata, pine bark extracts, curcumin in combination including methylsulfonylmethane in healthy volunteers	Liu X et al.	The Journal of pharmacy and pharmacology	2020	Randomized Controlled Trial
Methylsulfonylmethane for treatment of low back pain: A safety analysis of a randomized, controlled trial	Crawford P et al.	Complementary therapies in medicine	2019	Randomized Controlled Trial
A Histologic Perspective on Electrical and Thermal Burn-Injured Human Skin	Pielesz A et al.	Advances in skin & wound care	2019	Observational Study
A randomized controlled trial evaluating methylsulfonylmethane versus placebo to prevent knee pain in military initial entry trainees	Tennent DJ et al.	U.S. Army Medical Department journal	2017	Randomized Controlled Trial
Comparison of Glucosamine-Chondroitin Sulfate with and without Methylsulfonylmethane in Grade I-II Knee Osteoarthritis: A Double Blind Randomized Controlled Trial	Lubis AMT et al.	Acta medica Indonesiana	2017	Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) on exercise-induced oxidative stress, muscle damage, and pain following a half-marathon: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial	Withee ED et al.	Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition	2017	Randomized Controlled Trial
Superselective transvenous embolization with Onyx and n-BCA for vein of Galen aneurysmal malformations with restricted transarterial access: safety, efficacy, and technical aspects	Orlov K et al.	Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery	2017	Clinical Trial
Early outcomes and periprocedural complications of transarterial embolization of brain arteriovenous malformations with Onyx(®)	Poncyljusz W et al.	Neurologia i neurochirurgia polska	2017	Observational Study
Use of an alpha lipoic, methylsulfonylmethane and bromelain dietary supplement (Opera(®)) for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy management, a prospective study	Desideri I et al.	Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England)	2017	Clinical Trial
Early and midterm outcomes after transcatheter embolization of type I endoleaks in 25 patients	Ameli-Renani S et al.	Journal of vascular surgery	2017	Observational Study
A prospective randomized controlled multicentre trial comparing intravesical DMSO and chondroïtin sulphate 2% for painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis	Tutolo M et al.	International braz j urol : official journal of the Brazilian Society of Urology	2017	Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized, open-label, multicenter study of the efficacy and safety of intravesical hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate versus dimethyl sulfoxide in women with bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis	Cervigni M et al.	Neurourology and urodynamics	2017	Randomized Controlled Trial
Serenoa repens associated with selenium and lycopene extract and bromelain and methylsulfonylmethane extract are able to improve the efficacy of levofloxacin in chronic bacterial prostatitis patients	Cai T et al.	Archivio italiano di urologia, andrologia : organo ufficiale [di] Societa italiana di ecografia urologica e nefrologica	2016	Randomized Controlled Trial

More cited research

A Phase I and pharmacological study with imidazolium-trans-DMSO-imidazole-tetrachlororuthenate, a novel ruthenium anticancer agent (None, human trial (non-randomized))
A clinical trial with dimethyl sulfoxide in scleroderma (None, human trial (non-randomized))
A controlled study of dimethyl sulfoxide in interstitial cystitis (None, human RCT)
A double-blind clinical study--DMSO for acute injuries and inflammations compared to accepted standard therapy (None, human trial (non-randomized))
GLP-1 receptor agonist protects glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells against lipotoxicity via PPARδ/UCP2 pathway (2025, animal)
Octreotide ameliorates Bisphenol A-induced testicular toxicity via autophagy-inflammation pathway modulation (2025, animal)
Pregnancy and lambing rates following direct transfer of vitrified embryos in field ewes of Bangladesh (2025, animal)
Progesterone receptor-Src kinase signaling pathway mediates neuroprogesterone induction of the luteinizing hormone surge in female rats (2022, animal)

Conditions researched

Related compounds

FAQ

What is DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, non-peptide solvent)?

A solvent that carries substances through skin and into the blood, described as a free-radical scavenger; not a peptide.

How many registered human trials study DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, non-peptide solvent)?

The PeptideWhiz trial index lists 16 registered trials for DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, non-peptide solvent), the most recent from 2025.

How much published research exists on DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, non-peptide solvent)?

The PeptideWhiz paper index links 214 PubMed papers to DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, non-peptide solvent); by study type, 223 human and 43 animal studies.

Which conditions is DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, non-peptide solvent) researched for?

Concussion, traumatic brain injury & stroke recovery, Herpes (HSV) and cold sores, Neuropathy and CRPS, Osteoarthritis, cartilage loss & avoiding joint replacement, Skin, hair loss, wounds & mast-cell/histamine reactivity, Tendon, ligament, muscle & joint injuries (incl. athletes), Bursitis, Chronic and systemic inflammation, Chronic pain: fibromyalgia & CRPS, EBV and reactivated viruses, Eyes: macular degeneration & retinal health, Gut: IBD (Crohn's, colitis), leaky gut, IBS & ulcers, Immune system (general), Lymphedema and swelling, Migraine, Pancreatitis (after the acute phase), Prostate inflammation, Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, Recurring UTIs, Rheumatoid arthritis, Rosacea, Varicose veins.

Research and education only. Not medical advice. No dosing guidance. Data: ClinicalTrials.gov registry and PubMed via the PeptideWhiz index (204,289 studies).