Impact of high bromide intake in the rat dam on iodine transfer to the sucklings.

A significant impact of high bromide levels in the organism of the mother on iodine transfer to the sucklings was established in experiments with female Wistar rats. The observed decrease in iodine transfer to the young through mothers' milk and/or an increase in the bromide concentration in the milk, caused a decrease in body weight of the pups. Enhanced bromide levels also adversely affected the thyroid gland of the young.

High bromide intake affects the accumulation of iodide in the rat thyroid and skin.

The effect of a high bromide intake on the kinetics of iodide uptake and elimination in the thyroid and skin of adult male rats was studied. In rats fed a diet with sufficient iodine supply (> 25 microg I/d), the iodide accumulation in the skin predominated during the first hours after 131I iodide application. From this organ, radioiodide was gradually transferred into the thyroid.

Effect of high bromide levels in the organism on the biological half-life of iodine in the rat.

In experiments on rats, a significant influence of an extraordinarily high bromide intake on the whole-body biological half-life of iodine was established. Very high bromide intake (1) decreased the amount of radioiodide accumulated in the thyroid, (2) changed the proportion between the amount of iodine retained in the thyroid and the total amount of absorbed iodine, (3) significantly shortened the biological half-life of iodine in the thyroid from approximately 101 h to 33 h in animals maintained on an iodine-sufficient diet and from 92 h to about 30 h in rats fed a low-iodine diet, and (4) changed the time-course (added a further phase) of iodine elimination from the body. These changes were caused, with high probability, by an increase of iodine elimination by kidneys due to an excess of bromide.

Bromide kinetics and distribution in the rat. II. Distribution of bromide in the body.

The distribution of 82Br-bromide in 15 different organs and tissues of rats has been determined by high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry and by the scintillation counting technique at different times after the application of Na 82Br, either by subcutaneous injection or by continuous administration in the drinking water. The amount of 82Br-bromide in the various tissues reached its largest uptake within a few hours, and the concentration ratio of 82Br in the tissues to blood remained practically constant between 8 and 396 h after the application. The whole stomach of rats was the only organ of those investigated that had a larger uptake of 82Br than blood.

Bromide kinetics and distribution in the rat. I. Biokinetics of 82Br-bromide.

Biological half-lives of bromine in 15 different organs and tissues of the rat, in addition to the whole-body half-life, were determined by measuring the radioactive concentration of 82Br-bromide in samples of tissues collected at the time intervals of 12-396 h from animals that continuously (up to 17 d) received 82Br-labeled bromide in their drinking water. The half-life values, calculated from the experimental data by the method of gradual estimates of the parameters in question with the SPSS statistical program, ranged from 94.3+/-14.