Balance, Excretion and Tissue Distribution of Vanadium in Rats after Short-Term Ingestion

Abstract

Balance, excretion and tissue distribution of vanadium in rats were investigated. Female Wistar strain rats, weighing 110-120g (approximately 5 weeks old), were divided into a normal control group and a vanadium exposed group, of seven animals each. Vanadium exposed animals were fed the control diet plus sodium metavanadate (V⁵⁺) at concentrations of 100ppm for 7 days. Relatively high concentrations of vanadium were found in bone, spleen, kidney and liver in the vanadium exposed group, with the highest concentration found in bone. The percentages of vanadium excreted in the urine and feces were 0.86 and 83.5% of the intake, respectively. Thus, the retention rate was 15.7%. The data suggests that feces are the major route of excretion, and that vanadium is poorly absorbed by the intestinal tract.