title: Uranium in bone: metabolic and autoradiographic studies in the rat.
abstract: The distribution and retention of intravenously injected hexavalent uranium-233 in the skeleton of the female rat has been investigated using a variety of autoradiographic and radiochemical techniques. These showed that approximately one third of the injected uranium is deposited in the skeleton where it is retained with an initial biological half-time of approximately 40 days. The studies also showed that: 1 Uranium is initially deposited onto all types of bone surface, but preferentially onto those that are accreting. 2 Uranium is deposited in the calcifying zones of skeletal cartilage. 3 Bone accretion results in the burial of surface deposits of uranium. 4 Bone resorption causes the removal of uranium from surfaces. 5 Resorbed uranium is not retained by osteoclasts and macrophages in the bone marrow. 6 Uranium removed from bone surfaces enters the bloodstream where most is either redeposited in bone or excreted via the kidneys. 7 The recycling of resorbed uranium within the skeleton tends to produce a uniform level of uranium contamination throughout mineralized bone. These results are taken to indicate that uranium deposition in bone shares characteristics in common with both the 'volume-seeking radionuclides' typified by the alkaline earth elements and with the 'bone surface-seeking radionuclides' typified by plutonium.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D001846:Bone Development; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000378:metabolism; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism*; D002356:Cartilage / Q000378:metabolism; D004058:Diffusion; D005260:Female; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013997:Time Factors; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014501:Uranium / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014501:Uranium