Decorporation of aged americium deposits by oral administration of lipophilic polyamino carboxylic acids

Several new powerful chelating agents, suitable for the removal of a variety of certain heavy-metal ions from the body by oral application, have been synthesized and tested. Structurally, these compounds are partially lipophilic polyamino carboxylic acids (PACA). They were synthesized in nonaqueous media from triethylenetetramine (TT) by monoalkylation of a primary amino group, followed by exhaustive carboxymethylation of the remaining amino groups using ethyl bromoacetate and subsequent alkaline hydrolysis of the ester. Compounds were characterized using IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and mass spectrometry. Synthesis and testing of two of these compounds, C12- and C22-triethylenetetraminepentaacetic acid (CnTT), is described in detail. Gel permeation chromatography of a mixture of the PACA and actinide elements have shown these substances to be strong chelating agents similar to EDTA or DTPA. They were capable of removing plutonium from contaminated liver cytosol in vitro. In contrast to their nonlipophilic counterparts EDTA and DTPA, the model substances exhibited appreciable absorption from the intestine and, therefore, can be administered orally. With increasing length of the alkyl chain, the chelons can be directed primarily to the liver, one of the target organs for actinide contamination. In vivo, absorption from the ligated duodenum and jejunum of rats after 2 h was 27% of the amount introduced. Compared to untreated controls, daily feeding of 200 mumol of the chelons (C12TT or C22TT)/kg of body weight to rats for 10 days reduced the whole body Am by 29% and 44%, respectively. Am was eliminated most efficiently from the liver, with a reduction of 71% and 89% (p less than 0.001). However, the skeletal retention also was reduced by 17% and 32% from the femora (p less than 0.001) and 20% and 37% from the carcass for the C12TT and C22TT compounds, respectively. No weight loss or other obvious signs of blood, kidney, liver, or intestinal toxicity were observed after the 10-day treatment. These new chelators are promising as agents for oral chelation therapy to remove actinides and possibly other elements from body stores.

Effectiveness of DTPA treatments following the injection of particulate plutonium

A limited long-term experiment has been completed in which the chronic toxicity resulting from a single intravenous injection of 31.4 kBq of a poly-disperse 239Pu colloid sol per kg of body weight was tested in Beagle dogs. The Pu deposited mostly in the phagocytic cells of liver, spleen and to a lesser degree in lung and bone marrow. Slow solubilization of the Pu particles by endogenous ligands caused translocation of the nuclide and redeposition mostly as monomeric Pu in the skeleton and in liver hepatocytes. Thus, the deposit behaved as expected from a pulmonary or wound contamination in humans with a moderately soluble depot of Pu such as Class W hot particles. Therefore, this type of deposit provided the basis for a practical model to study the ensuing radiation effects under various experimental conditions. The dogs were divided into three groups of four animals each, and the following conditions were applied: (a) no further treatment was given, allowing free translocation of the Pu to its secondary deposition sites; (b) interception of the Pu translocation by weekly injections of 30 mumol of Ca-DTPA/kg of body weight (Ca-chelate of diethylene-triaminepentaacetic acid); and (c) interception of translocation by daily injections of 30 mumol/kg body weight of Zn-DTPA. For each of the groups (b) and (c), three dogs were used in a lifetime study, and one was sacrificed for nuclide distribution studies. Free translocation and subsequent deposition in the skeleton resulted in the death of each of the non-chelated dogs from osteosarcoma between 1267 and 1594 days after injection. Weekly treatment with Ca-DTPA reduced the total Pu burden significantly, but these dogs also died with osteosarcoma between 1462 and 1783 days. Daily injections with Zn-DTPA reduced the total Pu burden more efficiently than Ca-DTPA and prevented continuous deposition of solubilized Pu on bone surfaces. The mean post-injection survival of these dogs was 3520 days or about 2.1 times that of the animals receiving Ca-DTPA, while the latent period for bone tumour induction was about 2.6 times longer. This treatment reduced the severity of liver lesions and eliminated the occurrence of persistent leukopenia, but it did not prevent the formation of bone cancer.

A comparison of the natural survival of beagle dogs injected intravenously with low levels of 239Pu, 226Ra, 228Ra, 228Th, or 90Sr

The natural survival, relative to properly chosen controls, of 26 beagle dogs injected once intravenously with an average of 0.58 +/- 0.04 kBq 239Pu/kg, 23 dogs injected with 2.31 +/- 0.43 kBq 226Ra/kg, 13 dogs injected with 1.84 +/- 0.26 kBq 228Ra/kg, 12 dogs injected with 0.56 +/- 0.030 kBq 228Th/kg, and 12 dogs injected with 21.13 +/- 1.74 kBq 90Sr/kg was evaluated statistically. The amounts of these radionuclides are related directly to the estimated maximum permissible body burdens for humans suggested in ICRP II (1959). They constitute a level of exposure that initially was assumed to cause no deleterious effects in dogs. This study had two objectives: (1) identification of homogeneous control groups against which to evaluate the survival of the irradiated groups and (2) comparison of the survival characteristics and estimation of mortality or hazard rate ratios for control dogs vs dogs injected with the baseline dosages given above. It was shown, by goodness-of-fit plots, that the Cox proportional hazards model was an appropriate method of analysis. Therefore, covariates that possibly could influence survival were tested for significance. Only the effects of grand mal seizure, which is caused in epileptic dogs by an external stimulus and can be fatal if untreated, were significant (P less than 0.0001). Consequently, in the final model, death from grand mal seizure was considered as accidental. After censoring the dogs dying from grand mal seizure, it was established that the data for the control groups from previous and contemporary experiments could be pooled. The change in hazard rates relative to controls resulting from exposure to the baseline radionuclide level was modest, 1.6 times for 239Pu (P = 0.033), 1.0(4) for 226Ra (P = 0.86), 1.9 for 228Ra (P = 0.035), 2.5 for 228Th (P less than 0.001), and 0.52 for 90Sr (P = 0.041). Bone tumor induction was clearly elevated in dogs injected with 239Pu and 228Th. When the effect of these bone tumors on survival was removed by censoring, the dogs injected with 239Pu were indistinguishable from the controls. In contrast, the effects of bone tumor on group survival of the 228Ra and 228Th dogs were not significant. Thus, no additional life-shortening effects beyond those attributable to bone tumor were suggested by these data for 239Pu, but other, as yet unspecified, confounders are suggested for 228Ra and 228Th.

The influence of age at time of exposure to 226Ra or 239Pu on distribution, retention, postinjection survival, and tumor induction in beagle dogs

The influence of age at injection of 226Ra or 239Pu on skeletal deposition and local distribution, the pattern of bone tumor formation, and postinjection survival was assessed in parallel short-term studies of mechanisms and lifetime toxicity. Beagles received a single intravenous injection of 226Ra or 239Pu at 3 months (juveniles), 17-19 months (young adults) or 60 months (mature). Data from short-term studies of mechanisms and dosimetry and from one dosage level (41 kBq 226Ra/kg or 11 kBq 239Pu/kg body mass) of each of the toxicity experiments were compared. Skeletal growth and turnover produced differential initial deposition and distribution patterns typical for each age group. At 1 week after injection, skeletal retention of 226Ra or 239Pu was 68 and 68%, respectively, in the juveniles, 32 and 46% in the young adults, and 31 and 43% in the mature dogs. Comparing individual bones in the juveniles, gradients in the concentration of 239Pu were small since all bones were actively growing, but substantial gradients, corresponding to centers of ossification, were present within individual bones. In other age groups, local concentration gradients were less pronounced, but much larger differences were present among the various bones. In the toxicity study all animals injected with either 41 kBq 226Ra/kg or 11 kBq 239Pu/kg have died. The cumulative average skeletal doses to the presumed time of start of tumor growth (1 year before death) were 25 and 4 Gy, respectively, for the juveniles, 22 and 5 Gy for the young adults, and 15 and 4 Gy for the mature dogs. The highest bone tumor incidence was seen in the young adult groups. Differences were observed in location of bone tumors between dogs in the same age group given radium or plutonium and among age groups injected with either radionuclide, some of which could be explained by differences in local dose distributions. Median postinjection survival assessed by the Kaplan-Meier nonparametric method ranged from 2513 and 2592 days for the juveniles to 2099 and 1617 for the young adults to 2086 and 1421 in the mature groups. Cox regression analysis indicated no significant differences in postinjection survivals (uncorrected for the different preinjection periods) of groups injected with radium, but there was a statistically significant difference among the groups injected with plutonium. It was demonstrated that differences in the effects of 239Pu in the three groups were due primarily to the age- and time-dependent local distribution of the radionuclide.

Kidney disease in beagles injected with polonium-210

An unusually high incidence of kidney disease (tubular degeneration and necrosis with fibrous replacement) was observed among 24 beagles injected at about 5 years of age with 116 or 329 kBq 226Ra kg-1 but not among an additional 10 beagles given about 39 kBq 226Ra kg-1. This 226Ra solution also contained 210Pb, 210Bi, and 210Po. To determine whether the kidney disease was related to the radiation from 226Ra and its short-lived progeny or to the alpha radiation from 210Po, 2 beagles about 7 years of age were injected with 451 kBq 226Ra kg-1 of 210Po citrate. Measurements of polonium retention in the kidneys of 4 additional beagles given 210Bi citrate enabled us to model the retention of these emitters in the dog kidney and to estimate the kidney dose from the alpha radiation of 210Po following injection of either 226Ra + 210Bi + 210Po or 210Po only. Autoradiography revealed that almost equal concentrations of 210Po were in the tubular epithelium and/or its basement membrane and in the glomeruli, but very little of the 210Bi deposited in kidney tissue was present in the glomeruli. Radiation damage to the kidneys similar to that observed previously in beagles given 226Ra solutions that also contained 210Bi and 210Po was seen among the beagles given 210Po but not in the dogs given purified 226Ra. The analysis of these data indicated that the relatively high incidence of kidney disease among the mature beagles injected with 226Ra and its accompanying 210Bi and 210Po resulted from alpha irradiation of the kidneys by the substantial amount of 210Po that was in the injection solution.

Localization of vanadium-containing particles in the lungs of uranium/vanadium miners

Several geological formations of the Utah-Colorado mining region mined for uranium ore during and after World War II had been mined earlier for vanadium. Therefore, most miners and millers from that region were exposed to those metals' ores or tailings at one time or another. Preliminary investigation to determine uranium and vanadium retained in the lungs of a former uranium miner and miller from this region, who died of lung cancer (mesothelioma), showed a high nonuniform distribution of vanadium. This observation led to the hypothesis that the vanadium content in the lungs could be associated with inhaled particles. Further examination of spectra of characteristic X-rays obtained by scanning particle-induced X-ray emission (microPIXE) of an autopsy sample of this lung indicated that vanadium was indeed present in localized sites within the 20-μm spatial resolution of the proton beam. This work points out that the microPIXE-RBS (Rutherford backscattering) test for vanadium can be used for site localization of inhaled particles retained in the lungs. Further studies are in progress to: (i) locate uranium-bearing particles in lung tissues of former uranium miners and millers; and (ii) evaluate the local doses of alpha radiation received from these particles.

Retention and dosimetry of injected 241Am in beagles

Equations have been derived, from the results of total-body and partial-body counting and gamma-ray counting of individual bones and soft tissues, which describe the retention of injected 241Am in the liver, in the nonliver tissue (including skeleton), and in the skeleton of young adult beagles. Retention was found to be dependent upon injection level, and different sets of equations were developed for dogs given about (a) 2.8 microCi/kg (b) 0.9 microCi/kg (c) 0.3 microCi/kg, and (d) 0.1 microCi/kg and less. Liver rention, RL, was characterized by a single exponential equation of the form RL = ce-beta t, with c = 0.49 +/- 0.04 and beta = a function of injection level. Nonliver tissue was assigned a retention equation of the form RNL = d + alpha + J(l - e-mt), with d = 0.102 +/- 0.024 e-1.22t, alpha = 0.41 +/- 0.04, and both J and m as a function of injection level. Skeletal retention was found to be about 0.885 +/- 0.037 of nonliver retention with no significant dependence upon either injection level or time after 241Am injection. Dosimetry equations based on these retention expressions were derived. Individual bones of 55 beagles were assayed at death for their 241Am content for a determination of 241Am distribution within the skeleton.

Removal of Pu and am from beagles and mice by 3,4,3-LICAM(C) or 3,4,3-LICAM(S)

Decorporation of Pu and Am by tetrameric catechoylamide (CAM) ligands has been investigated in beagles and mice. Eight dogs were injected intravenously (iv) with 237 + 239Pu(IV) + 241Am(III) citrate, and 30 min later, pairs of dogs were injected iv with 30 mumole/kg of 3,4,3-LICAM(C) [N1,N5,N10,N14-tetrakis(2,3-dihydroxy-5-sulfobenzoyl)tetr aazatetradecane, tetrasodium salt], 3,4,3-LICAM(S) [N1,N5,N10,N14-tetrakis(2,3-dihydroxy-4-carboxybenzoyl)te traazatetradecane, tetrasodium salt], CaNa3-DTPA, or each of the latter two ligands. Blood was sampled, and excreta were collected for 7 days, at which time the dogs were sacrificed and nuclide retention in liver and nonliver tissue was measured. Groups of five mice were each given 238Pu(IV) or 241Am(III) citrate iv; 3 min later 30 mumole/kg of a CAM ligand was injected intraperitoneally, mice were killed at 24 hr, and separated excreta and tissues were analyzed. In the dogs, average retention at 7 days of the injected Pu and Am, respectively, was as follows: 12 and 70% after treatment with a CAM ligand alone; 30 and 20% after DTPA; 12 and 20% after LICAM(S) plus DTPA; 90 and 89% without a ligand. In the mice, mean retention of the injected Pu and Am, respectively, was as follows: 14 and 66% after treatment with LICAM(C); 21 and 54% after LICAM(S); 91 and 87% without a ligand. In both species, about 99% of net Pu excretion (excretion with ligand - excretion without ligand) promoted in 24 hr by DTPA or LICAM(S) was in the urine, whereas about 10% of net Pu excretion promoted by the less hydrophilic LICAM(C) was in feces. Delayed excretion of both Am and Pu was significant in all ligand-treated dogs. Comparison of the nuclide content of tissues of ligand-treated mice with those of mice killed 3 min after nuclide injection indicated that the CAM ligands chelated circulating Pu and Am and prevented further deposition. In addition, the CAM ligands removed much of the presumably loosely bound Pu present in liver and skeleton at the time of ligand injection. LICAM(C) was more effective in removing Pu from liver and LICAM(S) was more effective in the skeleton. Moderate to severe uremia and histological evidence of cell killing in the distal tubules of the kidney were observed in the four dogs injected once with 30 mumole/kg of LICAM(S).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

228Th retention and dosimetry in beagles

Total-body and skeletal retention of 228Th were determined in a group of 104 young adult male and female beagles for about the first 7 years after the injection of 0.00159 to 2.76 muCi/kg. Ratios of 224Ra / 228Th , 212Pb / 228Th , and 212Bi / 228Th in the skeleton and in soft tissues of 20 beagles were measured as a function of time after injection. A humerus, femur, and ulna from 20 dogs dying 7 to 554 days after injection were sectioned, and the 228Th concentration was obtained for each piece. Percentage biological retention in the skeleton of 228Th at t days after injection could be described as 68.1 e-0. 000180t . Ratios of daughter-to-parent activity in soft tissue showed no definite trend with dose level or time and averaged Ra/Th = 0.56, Pb/Th = 0.83, and Bi/Th = 0.91, whereas the ratios for the skeleton varied with both dose level and time. Ratios of activity in the skeleton from lowest to highest dose level after 2 years following injection ranged between Ra/Th = 0.88 to 0.95, Pb/Th = 0.78 to 0.92, and Bi/Th = 0.77 to 0.90. Retained 228Th was deposited most heavily in parts of the skeleton with much trabecular bone, much bone surface area, and high bone remodeling rates. No changes in this deposition pattern could be discerned during the 554 days over which the measurements of sectioned long bones were made.

Radiation dose rates to the proximal humerus of growing beagles injected with 239Pu

The anatomical distribution of 239Pu in the proximal humerus was studied in four beagles injected at 90 days of age and sacrificed 7, 28, 56, and 128 days after injection, respectively. Initial deposition in each humerus was 3.1% of the injected Pu; 41% of that was retained with a net halftime of 248 days; for the remaining 59% no decrease was observed with time. Sixty-one percent of the initial deposit was concentrated in the proximal epiphysis and metaphysis. Average radiation dose rates to trabecular bone of the epiphysis, to those parts of the metaphysis that were formed before and/or after injection, and to the area corresponding to the primary and secondary spongiosa were determined by fission track autoradiography. Local dose rates within the range of 10 microns of the endosteal surface, to the marrow and to osseous tissue were calculated. Because of the rapid growth and modeling rate, surface deposits declined rapidly. In the metaphysis, bone formed after injection contained less than 1/2 the Pu concentration of bone which was present at the time of injection. At 100 days of age, bone mineralization as determined by the ash weight/wet weight ratio, and the fraction of bone volume occupied by mineralized tissue was 1/2 that seen in young adult beagles. The surface/volume ratio was twice as high as in young adult beagles. The possible effects of local radiation doses were correlated with areal densities of cells and types of cells at risk. Comparisons were made with corresponding sites from the humerus of beagles injected as young adults.

Radium retention and dosimetry in juvenile beagles

Retention of administered 226Ra was substantially greater in beagles injected as 3-month-old juveniles than as 1.4-year-old young adults, but the measured 222Rn/226Ra ratio in bone was significantly less in juveniles for about the first 600 days after injection. An equation that describes the total-body biological retention R in beagles injected with 226Ra at 3 months of age at any time t (in days) after injection during the first 6.6 years is R = 0.331e-0.206t + 0.245e-0.00374t + 0.424e-0.000114t. The rate constant of the final term in the equation for juveniles is similar to that for young adults, suggesting that this component reflects the net turnover rate in the slowly remodeling component of adult bone. Compared to young adult beagles, animals injected as juveniles had a greater fraction of their retained 226Ra in parts of the skeleton containing much cortical bone, such as paws, and a smaller fraction in those parts containing much trabecular bone.

Radium retention in mature beagles injected at 5 years of age

Retention of 226Ra was substantially lower in mature beagles injected at 5 years of age compared to corresponding values for young adult beagles injected at 17 months of age. As with young adults, the percentage retention in mature dogs given about 10 microCi/kg exceeded that in mature dogs given 4 microCi/kg or less. Percentage retention, R, at t days after the injection of 10 microCi/kg in mature beagles could be represented by the equation, R = 64.1e-0.233t + 13.0e-0.0048lt + 22.9e-0.000329t, and for mature beagles given 4 microCi/kg or less, R = 38.8e-0.40t + 30.6e-0.0424t + 11.9e-0.00567t + 18.7e-0.000352t. Measured 222Rn/226Ra ratios in bone were similar in mature and young adults. Roughly 66% of the injected radium was excreted by mature dogs during the first 3 weeks, about two-thirds of the total excretion appearing in the feces. Distribution of 226Ra within the skeleton was similar in mature and young adult beagles.

Skeletal retention and distribution of 226Ra and 239Pu in beagles injected at ages ranging from 2 days to 5 years

The age at exposure significantly affects the retention and distribution of 226Ra and 239Pu, both of which deposit in the skeleton although in somewhat different patterns. Beagles aged 2 days (neonates), 90 days (juveniles), 18 months (young adults), or 5 yrs (mature) received a single subacute injection of one of these nuclides and were sacrificed serially during a 2-yr interval. Nuclide concentrations in plasma, the skeleton, individual bones and bone sections were determined and retention equations were calculated. The microanatomical skeletal nuclide distribution was studied after fission track or conventional autoradiography. Elimination of 239Pu and its translocation from bone surfaces to the bone volume caused by bone growth and turnover processes were measured. Average radiation doses and dose rates as a function of age at exposure were determined. Initial uptake and retention, skeletal nuclide concentration, proliferative activity of local cell populations and residence time of the nuclide on skeletal surfaces were affected significantly by age at exposure. The effect of these parameters on tumor induction is discussed. This study has provided early retention and distribution data which together with data from a chronic toxicity study will be used to estimate the risk of Pu exposure relative to that of Ra to humans of all ages.