Vanadium retention in rat tissues following acute exposures to different dose levels.

Male Wistar rats were given vanadyl trichloride (48VOCl3) ip in doses of V ranging from 0.1 to 8 mg/kg and their tissues were collected 1 and 5 d after the injection. V was distributed in the order bone greater then kidney greater then liver greater than spleen greater than intestines greater than stomach greater than muscle greater than testis greater than lung greater than brain. Residues of V in tissues declined rapidly between 24 h and 5 d after administration. The tissue:blood ratios of V were greater than unity for bone, kidney, liver, and spleen and near unity for all other organs except the brain. Brain levels of V were found to be considerably lower than blood in all cases. V residues were linearly related to dose in most organs when the dose was below 2 mg/kg. At 8 mg/kg, however, liver and kidney showed consistently higher amounts than would be expected from the linear relationship at the low doses. Subcellular distribution of V in liver and kidney indicated that it was associated with nuclei, mitochondria, microsomes, and primarily with high-molecular-weight proteins in the soluble fraction of liver. The results suggest that the distribution pattern of V is dependent on exposure level.