Effect of cyanide on the distribution of ⁶⁰Co in mice

Abstract

The effect of cyanide on the distribution of cobalt was studied by injecting mice i.p. with potassium cyanide 61.4 μmoles/kg, followed 1 min later by ⁶⁰CoCl₂ 38.5 μmoles/kg i.v. Blood and tissue concentrations of ⁶⁰Co were then determined up to 48 h after injection and the results were compared with those obtained from control animals receiving ⁶⁰CoCl₂ only. In animals treated with cobalt plus cyanide, considerably higher concentrations of ⁶⁰Co were found in the spleen in comparison with controls during the whole observation period, whereas the ⁶⁰Co concentration in the pancreas was lower than that of controls during the first 4 h. In other tissues no significant differences between cyanide-treated animals and controls were noticed. Determination of complex-bound cyanide demonstrated that the increased uptake of cobalt in the spleen observed in cyanide-treated animals was due to cobalt-cyanide complex(es). Cyanide did not affect the plasma protein binding of cobalt.