GASTRO-INTESTINAL ABSORPTION OF IONS. I. AGENTS DIMINISHING ABSORPTION OF STRONTIUM

¹ Atomic Energy Project, School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles

Thirty-two chemical agents, readily available in tonnage quantities, were screened for their ability to diminish the skeletal deposition of ingested strontium. Aqueous strontium chloride solution was administered to fasted rats by stomach tube, and followed immediately by an aqueous solution or suspension of the agent under study. After 24 hours, the Sr content of the femurs was determined by an emission spectrographic technique.

The materials which definitely decreased skeletal accumulation of Sr⁺⁺ are listed in order of decreasing efficacy: magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfate, the ammonium salt of an amido-polyphosphate, two carboxylic type cation exchange resins, a colloidal phosphorylated glucoside, calcium phytate, pectin, bran cereal, castor oil and a hydrophilic laxative derived from plantago.

None of the following materials significantly altered the amount of deposition: bentonite, kaolin, hydrated alumina, soluble starch, methyl cellulose, carboxy methyl cellulose, agar, gum acacia, crude lignified cellulose, gelatin, fresh egg white, oatmeal, phenolphthalein, mineral oil and the disodium salt of ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid.

Powdered milk, tannic acid, inulin, sodium alginate and a carboxylic and sulfuric acid substituted starch, all increased the skeletal accumulation of ingested strontium.