The distribution of 59Fe in albino rats after intravenous administration in the ionic or chelated form

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Abstract
When administered alone to albino rats there is a rapid passage of the Fe59 from the blood into the bones and a subsequent slow retransfer. This process is presumably a normal occurrence in iron metabolism. At all times, the blood and the bones account for most of the activity. The activity in the liver remains fairly constant at a low level. The excretion, initially negligible, becomes appreciable subsequently. Simultaneous administration of stable iron changes the pattern of distribution completely. A gradual accumulation of radioactivity in the liver, instead of in the bones, occurs followed by a slow mobilization later on. The low but constant amount in the bones seems to indicate a limited capacity of the bone components for iron. Both 1-nitroso-2-naphthol and sodium diethyldithiocarbamate cause an immediate deposition of radioactivity in the liver, the deposition being more pronounced with the latter. Subsequently, a large fraction of the isotope appears in the blood. Whether adminstered as the sodium diethyldithiocarbamate chelate or in the ionic form with or without the carrier, the tracer in the blood, though initially present mostly in the plasma, occurs almost completely in the cells after 24 hr in the bound form. EDTA causes a rapid removal of the isotope from the blood, a negligibly low deposition in the liver but considerable accumulation in the skin, the bones and the muscles, followed by a large excretion. This distribution pattern is presumed to be characteristic of all EDTA chelates.