Abstract
Ca-DTPA or Zn-DTPA was injected subcutaneously to pregnant mice once a day for 5 consecutive days from day 13 to 17 of gestation. Maternal and fetal livers were collected 20 hours after the final injection of DTPA, and essential metal contents in the liver samples were determined by PIXE.
Both Ca-DTPA and Zn-DTPA did not affect essential metal contents in the maternal liver, but Ca-DTPA significantly decreased copper and zinc contents in the fetal liver to 2/3 and 1/2 of the control value, respectively. Zn-DTPA did not affect fetal zinc content, but it decreased that of copper. It could not be determined whether DTPA affected fetal manganese content because the fetal liver contained no detectable amount of manganese.
