Action of DTPA on hepatic plutonium I. Quantitation of the DTPA-induced biliary excretion of plutonium in the rat.

Rats received an intravenous injection of 0.1 μCi of ${}^{239}{\rm Pu}\text{-citrate}$ (approx 0.5 μCi/kg). At 24 hr after Pu injection, the bile ducts were cannulated and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA, 0.25 mmole/kg) was injected intravenously. The amount of Pu appearing in the bile during the first 24 hr after DTPA injection was determined. In addition, the decrease in Pu content of the liver 24 hr after DTPA administration was measured in both bile duct-cannulated and noncannulated rats and compared to the amount of Pu appearing in the bile. Bile collected from control rats receiving saline instead of DTPA contained 0.40 ± 0.08 nCi of Pu (mean ± SE, n = 3), while bile collected for 24 hr after DTPA administration contained 7.2 ± 0.4 nCi Pu (mean ± SE, n = 6). Thus, DTPA administration brought about a striking increase in biliary Pu excretion. The mean decrease in liver Pu content 24 hr after DTPA administration to rats whose bile ducts were not cannulated was 7.4 ± 1.4 n...