Determination of platinum by radiochemical neutron activation analysis in neural tissues from rats, monkeys and patients treated with cisplatin

Cisplatin is one of the most used antineoplastic drugs, essential for the t reatment of germ cell tumours. Its use in medical treatment of cancer patie nts often causes chronic peripheral neuropathy in these patients. The distr ibution of cisplatin in neural tissues is, therefore, of great interest. Ra ts and monkeys were used as animal models for the study of sensory changes in different neural tissues, like spinal cord (ventral and dorsal part), do rsal root ganglia and sural nerve. The study was combined with quantitative measurements of the content of platinum in the neural tissues of the anima ls mentioned and in the neural tissues of human patients. For the determina tion of platinum in the tissues radiochemical neutron activation analysis h as been used. The detection limit is 1 ng Pt g(-1). The platinum results in dicate that platinum becomes accumulated in the dorsal root ganglia and in the sural nerve. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.