THE INCORPORATION OF PLUTONIUM BY THE EMBRYO AND FETUS OF RATS AND GUINEA-PIGS

The transfer of Pu-238 from the maternal circulation to the developing embryo and fetus was studied in rats and guinea-pigs to provide data for the development of dosimetric models for the human embryo and fetus. Following administration at different stages of gestation, measurements were made after 3 days in the rat and 7 days in guinea-pigs. The amount transferred was greater after administration at later stages of gestation, up to a maximum of about 0.8-0.9% of the injected activity per fetoplacental unit (FPU) and about 0.2% per fetus in both species. In advanced gestation the yolk sac, the initial site of haemopoietic stem cells, contained up to 80% of the total activity in the FPU in rats, compared with about 25% for the guinea-pig; retention in placental trophoblast was greater in the guinea-pig. The concentrations of Pu-238 in the yolk sac were generally about two to three orders of magnitude greater than fetal concentrations and of the same order as in maternal liver and bone. In both species, concentrations in the embryo and fetus were greatest after injection early in gestation, reached their lowest around mid-organogenesis and increased again in later gestation. The fetus:mother whole-body concentration ratios in late gestation were about 0.1 and 0.05 in rats and guinea-pigs, respectively. Measurements were also made of the Pu-238 retention in neonates at birth. In guinea-pigs the liver accounted for about 6-9% of retained activity; similar values for femora indicated skeletal retention of about 60-80%. For administration at each stage of gestation, and particularly at early stages, transfer of Pu-238 to the fetus continued throughout gestation but concentrations decreased due to fetal growth.