Studies with Colloids Containing Radioisotopes of Yttrium, Zirconium, Columbium and Lanthaum: 2. The Controlled Selective Localization of Radioisotopes of Yttrium, Zirconium, Columbium in the Bone Marrow, Liver and Spleen

Abstract

Several workers have shown that certain colloidally dispered materials are removed from the blood stream by the liver and spleen. Jones, Wrobel, and Lyons have utilized suspensions of anhydrous chromic phosphate for the selective irradiation of the liver and spleen with p{sup 32} beta particles. Gersh demonstrated that colloidal calcium phosphate is taken up by the liver and spleen. He stressed the failure of bone marrow phagocytes to take up this colloid in rats and dogs (though he referred to possible uptake in the marrow of rabbits under special conditions), and commented on the relative 'refractoriness' in general of the bono marrow as compared with liver and spleen with respect to the uptake of colloidal dyes from the blood stream. Some histological data indicate that 'Thorotrast' (a colloidal thorium dioxide preparation) is deposited in the bone marrow as well as in the liver and spleen, but no quantitative data as to the relative distribution are available. In the preceding communication the methods for the preparation of colloids incorporating radioisotopes of yttrium, columbium, and zirconium were given. The present studies are concerned with the localization of such colloids primarily in the bone marrow or primarily in the spleen and liver, with an analysis of some of the factors which may be responsible for differences in localization.