Excretion of tritium after therapeutic injections of tritiated 2-methyl-1: 4-naphthaquinol diphosphate in cancer patients

✍ Scribed by Barbara Chipperfield

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1967
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 678 KB
• Volume: 2
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.2910020414

✦ Synopsis

This paper describes investigations on the excretion of tritium in the urine, breath and faeces after therapeutic injections of tritiated tetra-sodium 2-methyl-I :I-naphthaquinol diphosphate in patients suffering from advanced malignant disease. Most of the tritiated material is excreted in the urine, a very small percentage appears in the breath as tritiated water, and an even smaller percentage appears in the faeces in the first three days after an injection.

The percentage in the urine seemed to be related to the weight of compound injected in small doses, but larger doses were fillowed by the excretion of a disproportionately high percentage of the injected tritium. A few people also excreted an extremely high percentage in the urine even after comparatively small doses. This may be a result of alterations in liver metabolism.

Examination of the urinary excretion products by chromatography showed that, during the first 24 hours, most of the tritium was in a glucuronic acid conjugate of menadiol. There were also varying quantities of other substances, including menadiol sulphate, menadione or I :4-naphthaquinone, menadiol disphosphate and an unknown compound which appeared to be another conjugate of menadione or I :I-naphthaquinone. After the first 24 hours Ihe urinary excretion products were only menadiol disphosphate and the conjugate of menadione or 1 :I-naphthaquinone.

The speciJc activity of water in the breath was greatest in the first 24 hours and was roughly proportional to the close injected. On average, 3 % of the injected tritiutn was present in the body as tritiated water. The precautions taken in nursing these patients are discussed.