Study on the metabolism of physiological amounts of Cr(III) intragastricaladministration in normal rats using activable enriched stable isotope Cr-50 compound as a tracer

In order to study the metabolism of physiological amounts of Cr-51 (10 mu g /100 g of body wt.) intragastrically administered in rats, the activable en riched stable isotope Cr-50 compound Cr2O3 was used as a tracer. The absorp tion and distribution of Cr-51(III) in rats with time were studied. Signifi cant Cr-51 contents were found in all the organs and tissues of interest. T he kidney, liver and bone contain higher amounts of Cr-51 than others. The fact that specific activities of Cr-51 are notably high in kidney, bone, sp leen and pancreas and decrease gradually with time suggests that there are tighter binding of chromium in these organs. The excretion of Cr-51 at vari ous time intervals was also studied. Almost totally intragastrically admini stered dose was excreted in the feces. The increased urinary excretion of C r-51 with time indicates that the urine-chromium is the metabolic derivativ e of organism. In view of the tissues distribution and excretion, it can be concluded that no more than 1% of the dose was absorbed from the gastroint estinal tract.