Abstract
1. Iodides of the alkali metals, administered to animals in single massive doses per os, are eliminated in the urine almost quantitatively in a short period of time. The excretion of potassium iodide occurs within five to six days, and that of sodium iodide, in from three to four days. With both iodides the greatest proportion of the iodine is excreted during the first twenty-four hours. After this period the daily elimination is very small.
Potassium iodide seems to be eliminated by the kidney with greater difficulty than sodium iodide and sometimes causes temporary retention of iodine in the body. Only traces of iodine were found in the feces.
2. The results obtained for the elimination of calcium iodide were entirely different from those obtained with the iodides of the alkali metals. If it is administered per os, the major part, or at least 50 per cent of its iodine content, is eliminated in the urine, while the remainder is found in the feces. As in the case of the alkali iodides, the greater portion of the iodine of the calcium-iodide is eliminated during the first 24 hours.
3. Pepto-iodine, a chemical combination of iodine and peptone containing iodine in un-ionized form, behaves like the alkali iodides, as far as the rate of elimination is concerned. Its iodine is evidently not as firmly bound in the molecule as in other organic compounds, such as tetraiodophenolphthalein, in which the halogen is attached to the carbon of the benzene ring.
Pepto-iodine is rapidly and quantitatively eliminated in the urine, apparently without any appreciable injurious effect upon the kidneys, and can best be compared with sodium iodide. During the first eight hours an average of 50 per cent of its iodine was recovered, and in the first twenty-four hours a total of 91 per cent, while the remainder appeared in from one to three days later. Of this entire amount of halogen 94 per cent appeared in ionized form.
4. If the kidneys are injured by the intravenous administration of mercuric chloride, and sodium or potassium iodide are given at the same time per os, then a quantitative elimination of iodine no longer occurs. The excretion is greatly retarded, so much so that after ten days the recovery of iodine is not quantitative. Pepto-iodine, however, is not so affected, the injury to the kidneys produced by the mercuric chloride having no effects upon the rapidity of its elimination. From the above we feel safe in concluding that while potassium and sodium iodides exert a distinct injurious effect upon the kidney, pepto-iodine does so only to a much lesser degree.
5. From the results obtained by us with pepto-iodine, together with those reported by Bonnamour and Delore (Compt. Rend. de la Soc. de Biol., 1925, vol. 91, p. 1415) with other iodized albumins, we believe that compounds of this type are eliminated as rapidly and quantitatively as the iodides of the alkali metals.
6. In the case of compounds of the second group, containing iodine firmly bound to the benzene ring the halogen is completely eliminated, but at a slower rate than iodides of the alkali metals. Practically all of the iodine recovered in the urine and feces is in an un-ionized condition, indicating that the compounds pass through the body either unchanged or in the form of some other organic iodo compounds. This was found to be the case with both iodoguaiacol and its calcium salt, as well as with tetraiodophenolphthalein. The first compound is eliminated completely in the urine; the second only to the extent of 90 per cent, while the elimination of the third depends entirely upon the route of administration chosen. If given intravenously about 75 per cent of the iodine is eliminated in the urine and the remainder in the feces. However, if the oral route is selected, then practically all of the halogen is found in the feces. As tetraiodophenolphthalein has recently aroused a great deal of interest because of its employment in diseases of the gall bladder, the authors deemed it advisable to continue their investigation of this compound.
7. As a representative of the third type of organic iodine compounds, we studied an addition product of calcium iodide and thiourea. The elimination of this product was investigated after both intravenous and oral administration. The relative amounts found in the urine and feces are the same regardless of the route of administration. Thus about 49 per cent of iodine is eliminated in the urine and the remainder in the feces. The urinary elimination is complete after four days, while the feces continue to yield iodine for eight days. An interesting point in connection with these results is that they do not vary very much from those obtained with calcium iodide, which is the main constituent of this addition compound.
Footnotes
- Received November 1, 1926.
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