Blood Clearance of ^<198>Au-colloid for Evaluation of Hepatic Dysfunction in Rats

The fundamental study on availability of ^<198>Au-colloid clearance test for evaluation of hepatic dysfunction was carried out by using the normal rats or the carbon tetrachloride (CCI_4)-treated rats. It appeared appropriate to administer gold in ^<198>Au-colloid at the dose of 100 μg/kg in order to obtaion an effective blood clearance curve of ^<198>Au-clloid. The blood clearance curve of ^<198>Au-clloid showed two-phase changes, i.e., ^<198>Au-colloid concentration in blood rapidly decreased for the first 10 minutes, and slowly later on. The disappearance rate of ^<198>Au-colloid from blood decreased with the increase in dose of CCI_4. The decrease in the blood clearance of ^<198>Au-colloid by CCI_4 administration might be the consequence of the decrease in the uptake ratio of ^<198>Au-colloid into the liver. The blood clearance test of ^<198>Au-colloid might be one of more useful methods for evaluation of hepatic dysfunction in rats, equally to the indocyanine green (ICG) test.