Distribution of gold in rat blood after intravenous administration of auranofin, gold sodium thiomalate and aurothioglucose to rats.

Serum, blood and cell-associated gold were determined at various time periods after intravenous administration of 1 mg Au/kg of auranofin (AF), gold sodium thiomalate (GSTM) and aurothioglucose (GTG). AF gold exhibited an early phase of decay with high levels of cell-association; whereas, after 72 h cell-associated gold was not detectable. In contrast, GSTM and GTG serum gold values were generally higher than blood values since cell-associated gold rarely occurred. These observations suggest that, in contrast to GSTM and GTG, intravenous administration of AF results in a dynamic equilibrium of gold between the cellular and serum compartments of blood.