The metabolism of plutonium in adult rabbits

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Abstract
The distribution and retention of 239Pu has been studied in adult rabbits after intravenous or intramuscular injection of plutonium nitrate. After both intravenous and intramuscular injections the patterns of distribution and retention in the tissues are broadly similar to those found in other animal species. After intramuscular injection the bulk of the plutonium remains at the site of injection for at least one year. Translocation of plutonium from the intramuscular injection site is initially slow, and the major sites of deposition are the liver and skeleton, but after about seven weeks a marked increase was observed in the proportion of the translocated material deposited in the liver. It is suggested that more than one mechanism may be involved in the transport of plutonium from a deposit in muscle. The intracellular distribution of plutonium has been studied in liver, at various times after intravenous injection, by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Initially the plutonium in the liver was found to sediment with the microsomes and light cell components, but by 16 weeks the majority of the plutonium was found to sediment with the mitochondrial fraction.

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