The absorption of ingested neptunium, plutonium and americium in newborn hamsters

Hamsters aged 1, 4, 7, 22 and 30 days were given oral doses of either plutonium-239 citrate or americium-241 nitrate. The values of gastrointestinal absorption obtained were 3.5, 1.4, 0.04, 0.007 and 0.003 per cent, respectively, for plutonium and 4.5, 1.7, 0.5, 0.006 and 0.02 per cent, respectively, for americium, compared with values in adults of 0.01 per cent for plutonium and 0.05 per cent for americium. The absorption of neptunium was measured in hamsters aged 2 and 4 days and values of 2.3 and 1.7 per cent, respectively, were obtained for 239Np as the nitrate and 5.5 and 2.1 per cent, respectively, for 239Np as the bicarbonate compared with the values in adults of 0.02 per cent for both chemical forms. Thus, the absorption of plutonium, americium and neptunium at 1-2 days of age was about 100 times greater than in adults. The results for plutonium and americium show that absorption decreased rapidly with age over the suckling period. The values of absorption obtained at the time of weaning at 22 days were lower than in adults.     

The effect of X rays, DTPA, and aspirin on the absorption of plutonium from the gastrointestinal tract of rats

To measure the effect of radiation on plutonium transport, rats that were exposed to 250-kVp X rays were given 238Pu 3 days afterwards by either gavage or injection into a ligated segment of the duodenum. In a second group of experiments, rats were either injected intraduodenally with 238Pu-DTPA or administered the chelate intravenously and the 238Pu by gavage. In a third experiment, rats that had been gavaged with 200 or 400 mg/kg/day of aspirin for 2 days were injected intragastrically with 238Pu nitrate. Results of the first experiment showed a dose-dependent increase in 238Pu absorption between 800 and 1500 rad of lower-body X irradiation. Intravenous or intraduodenal injections of DTPA caused a marked increase in 238Pu absorption but resulted in decreased plutonium deposition in the skeleton and liver. Retention of 238Pu in the skeleton of rats given aspirin was double that of controls, but the effect on plutonium absorption was less marked than that of DTPA.     

Gastrointestinal absorption of neptunium in primates: effect of ingested mass, diet, and fasting

Absorption and retention of neptunium were determined in baboons after intragastric administration of neptunium nitrate solutions at pH 1. The effects of mass, diet, and fasting on absorption were studied. At higher mass levels (400-800 micrograms Np/kg), absorption was about 1%; at lower mass intakes (0.0009-0.005 micrograms Np/kg), absorption was reduced by 10- to 20-fold. The addition of an oxidizing agent (Fe3+) increased gastrointestinal absorption and supported the hypothesis of a reduction of Np (V) when loss masses were ingested. Diets depleted of or enriched with hydroxy acids did not modify retention of neptunium but increased urinary excretion with increasing hydroxy acid content. The diet enriched with milk components reduced absorption by a factor of 5. Potatoes increased absorption and retention by a factor 5, not necessarily due to the effect of phytate. Fasting for 12 or 24 h increased retention and absorption by factors of about 3 and 10, respectively. Data obtained in baboons when low masses of neptunium were administered suggest that the f1 factor used by ICRP should be decreased. However, fasting as encountered in certain nutritional habits is a factor to be taken into consideration.     

Mechanism of distribution of neptunium and plutonium in rats

Neptunium administered intravenously together with the high molecular weight protein fraction of blood serum was almost completely accumulated by the liver after 60 min. Then neptunium left the liver and was partially deposited in the skeleton. Plutonium, being a component of a nonprotein and a low molecular weight protein fractions, was mainly found in the skeleton where it had been accumulated throughout the entire period of observation (14 days, 52-58%); as to the nonprotein fraction, the value of accumulation was somewhat higher.     

Effects of duration of fast and animal age on the gastrointestinal absorption of plutonium

The fraction of plutonium absorbed after oral administration of Pu(VI) to 24-h-fasted mice was 19 X 10(-4), 13-fold higher than in fed mice, 1.4 X 10(-4). We have investigated the relevance of the high gastrointestinal (GI) absorption value for the 24-h-fasted animals in setting drinking water standards for humans. When fasting was initiated at the beginning of the active phase of the mouse's daily activity cycle (when they would normally eat), plutonium GI absorption rose from 2.8 X 10(-4) at zero-time to a level typical of the 24-h-fasted mouse after only 2 h of fasting. In contrast, in mice allowed to eat for 4 h into their active phase prior to initiation of the fast (meal-fed mice), 8 h of fasting were required before GI absorption rose to a level similar to that of the 24-h-fasted mouse. The fraction of plutonium retained after gavage administration of Pu(VI) to 1-day-old rats was 74 X 10(-4), 70-fold higher than the value for fed adults. Retention after GI absorption in neonates remained 30- to 70-fold higher than in adults until weaning. One week after weaning, the fraction absorbed and retained by fed weanling rats was the same as that for fed adults, 1 X 10(-4). Drinking water standards for plutonium have been set based on GI absorption values for fed adult animals. The 10- to 100-fold increases in plutonium absorption in young and fasted animals reported by ourselves and others, and the rapid rise to fasted levels of absorption at the start of the animal's active phase, indicate that consideration should be given to elevated levels of plutonium absorption in young and fasted individuals.     

The gastrointestinal absorption of organically bound forms of plutonium in fed and fasted hamsters

Values of about 0.005-0.01 per cent were obtained for the absorption in fed hamsters of plutonium ingested as Pu4+ citrate, isocitrate, phytate and malate complexes and Pu3+ ascorbate compared with about 0.003-0.004 per cent for Pu4+ nitrate. Replacing drinking water with tea did not affect the result for Pu4+ nitrate. Fasting hamsters for 8 h before the administration of plutonium citrate increased absorption to 0.1-0.2 per cent. An extra period of fasting for 4 h after administration did not lead to a further increase in absorption. Similar values were also obtained when plutonium citrate was administered after a 24 h fast, followed either by immediate access to food or a further 4 h fast. In hamsters fasted for 24 h before administration of either Pu3+ ascorbate or Pu4+ nitrate, about 6-7 per cent of the ingested plutonium was retained in the gastrointestinal tract after one week. At three weeks after ingestion of Pu3+ ascorbate, gastrointestinal retention had fallen 100-fold without an increase in absorption.     

Effects of fasting and/or oxidizing and reducing agents on absorption of neptunium from the gastrointestinal tract of mice and adult or neonatal rats

Neptunium-237(V) nitrate was administered by gavage to groups of fed or fasted adult and 5-day-old rats. Some groups also received the oxidants quinhydrone or ferric iron, and others received the reducing agent ferrous iron. Adult mice received ferric or ferrous iron and 235Np. When the adult rats were killed at 7 days after gavage, measurements showed that, compared with rats that were fed, a 24-hr fast caused a fivefold increase in 237Np absorption and retention. Both quinhydrone and ferric iron caused an even greater increase in absorption in both fed and fasted rats. Ferrous iron, on the other hand, decreased absorption in fasted rats to values lower than those obtained in fed rats. Similar results were obtained in mice treated with 235Np and either ferric or ferrous iron. The highest absorption obtained after gavage of ferric iron to fasted rats and mice was about two orders of magnitude higher than the value obtained in animals that were fed before gavage. The effects of ferric and ferrous iron on neptunium absorption by neonatal rats were similar to their effects on adult animals but of lesser magnitude. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that Np(V), when given in small mass quantities to fed animals, is reduced in the gastrointestinal tract to Np(IV), which is less well absorbed than Np(V).     

The effect of modifying factors on the absorption of radioactive beryllium from the gastrointestinal system of rats

In experiments with rats a study was made of the influence of pregnancy and lactation as well as of trivalent and bivalent iron on the resorption of 7BeCl2 from the digestive tract and distribution thereof among organs and tissues.     

The effect of alcohol on zinc absorption

Two methods of intestinal perfusion are described and used to study the effecs of alcohol on zinc absorption in the rat small intestine. The first method used perfusion of the lumen of the rat small intestinein situ without interruption of the vascular supply. During perfusion with a zinc-containing medium (with and without alcohol), alcohol was found to have no effect on net zinc uptake from the lumen of the intestine. However, there were significantly higher serum zinc concentrations recorded in the rats perfused wih the zinc and alcohol, 28.8 μmol/L, when compared with a group perfused without alcohol, 19.1 μmol/L (P < 0.01). The second method used simultaneous perfusion of the lumen of the rat small intestine, with constant-rate perfusion of the vascular bed with an artificial blood supply. In this experiment with a zinc-containing medium, with and without alcohol, there was no difference noted in zinc absorption from the lumen of the intestine, or release into the artificial blood supply. Therefore, in conclusion, alcohol does not appear to directly influence zinc absorption by the mucosal cells of the small intestine.