Biodistribution of mixed fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon dowel molecules used as stabilizers of fluorocarbon emulsions: a quantitative study by fluorine nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

19F NMR spectroscopy was used to determine quantitatively the organ distribution and organ retention time in rats of the mixed fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon dowel molecule C6F13CH = CHC10H21 (F6H10E), which stabilizes highly concentrated injectable fluorocarbon emulsions destined for in vivo oxygen transport and delivery. The only fluorine resonances detected in the 19F NMR spectra of the organs analyzed were those of the F6H10E dowel itself, indicating that metabolites, if present, have very low concentrations (< 10(-4) M, limit of our assay). The F6H10E content in the liver peaked 1 day after administration (7 days for the spleen). At a dose of 3.6 g/kg body weight, the half-life of F6H10E in the liver was 25 +/- 5 days.