Distribution and elimination of poly(methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles after subcutaneous administration to rats.

Poly(methyl [1-14C]methacrylate) nanoparticles were injected subcutaneously into rats. Almost all of the radioactivity stayed at the injection site. After an initial urinary and fecal excretion of approximately 1% of the administered dose per day, the rate of elimination dropped to a low level (approximately 0.005%/day via the feces and approximately 0.0005%/day via the urine) within 70 days. After 200 days, the fecal elimination increased exponentially until a greater than 100-fold increase was observed after 287 days in one rat. After this time, a tendency for an increase in fecal elimination was also observed in the other animals, and the radioactivity in all organs and tissue increased by approximately 100 times in all animals in comparison with the organ radioactivity determinations at earlier times.