title: Brain accumulation of depleted uranium in rats following 3- or 6-month treatment with implanted depleted uranium pellets.
abstract: Depleted uranium (DU) is used to reinforce armor shielding and increase penetrability of military munitions. Although the data are conflicting, DU has been invoked as a potential etiological factor in Gulf War syndrome. We examined regional brain DU accumulation following surgical implantation of metal pellets in male Sprague-Dawley rats for 3 or 6 mo. Prior to surgery, rats were randomly divided into five groups: Nonsurgical control (NS Control); 0 DU pellets/20 tantalum (Ta) pellets (Sham); 4 DU pellets/16 Ta pellets (Low); 10 DU pellets/10 Ta pellets (Medium); 20 DU pellets/0 Ta pellets (High). Rats were weighed weekly as a measure of general health, with no statistically significant differences observed among groups in either cohort. At the conclusion of the respective studies, animals were perfused with phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.4, to prevent contamination of brain tissue with DU from blood. Brains were removed and dissected into six regions: cerebellum, brainstem (pons and medulla), midbrain, hippocampus, striatum, and cortex. The uranium content was measured in digested samples as its 238U isotope by high-resolution inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. After 3 mo postimplantation, DU significantly accumulated in all brain regions except the hippocampus in animals receiving the highest dose of DU (p < 0.05). By 6 mo, however, significant accumulation was measured only in the cortex, midbrain, and cerebellum (p < 0.01). Our data suggest that DU implanted in peripheral tissues can preferentially accumulate in specific brain regions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Vanessa A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Fitsanakis
authors.forename: Keith M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Erikson
authors.forename: Stephanie J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Evje
authors.forename: Tore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Syversen
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aschner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D004343:Drug Implants; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013635:Tantalum; D014501:Uranium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D004343:Drug Implants; D014501:Uranium; D013635:Tantalum