The parallel course of the excretion rates of sodium and bromide ions was demonstrated in adult male rats administered simultaneously with 24Na-sodium chloride and 82Br-bromide. These excretion rates were inversely proportional to the magnitude of sodium intake in the animals. The biological half-life of bromide, as a substitute for sodium or chloride, was investigated with the aid of the radionuclide 82Br in animals situated in very different physiological states (i.e., in lactating and nonlactating female rats as well as in young rats of varying ages [2, 4, 6, and 10 wk of age]). The 82Br radioactivity retained in mothers and in whole litters was measured in vivo at appropriate time intervals (up to 240 h) after the application of 82Br-bromide to the mothers. The time-course of the changes in the 82Br radioactivity of the young was calculated as the difference between the rate of 82Br intake in the mother's milk and the 82Br excretion through the kidneys into the urine. The rate of 82Br excretion through the kidneys of the dam could be calculated also. Nonweaned young rats (12 d) had the highest half-life (269 h) and lactating dams had the lowest (44 h). The determined values demonstrated that nonweaned young apparently conserve sodium, because of its relatively low concentration in mother's milk, whereas lactating dams, because of their large food intake, waste sodium.

Institute of Analytical Chemistry Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic 142 20 Prague Czech Republic

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