STUDIES ON ANTIMALARIAL DRUGS THE DISTRIBUTION OF QUININE IN THE TISSUES OF THE FOWL

¹ From the Department of Pharmacology, University of Chicago, Chicago

The distribution of quinine in the blood and tissues of the fowl has been determined after single and repeated oral doses and after intravenous injection.

The blood levels after oral quinine show great individual variation both as regards the peak concentration and the time at which it occurs. Individual variations are also reflected in the tissue concentrations after oral administration.

Quinine is not accumulated in the tissues of the fowl even after long continued administration. Practically all of the quinine has disappeared from the tissues twenty-four hours after the last dose.

Immediately after the intravenous injection of quinine the concentration in the red blood cells is greater than in the plasma. Within an hour, the ratio is reversed. The white cells always show appreciably higher amounts of quinine than either the red cells or the plasma.

Quinine is especially concentrated in the liver, spleen, adrenal, pancreas and white blood cells, to a lesser extent in the bone marrow, lung, heart, testis, and kidney, while in the brain, spinal cord, skin, depot fat and blood contain relatively little. The distribution is essentially the same after either oral or intravenous administration. The greater individual variation in birds given oral quinine is probably due to differences in rate of absorption from the gut.