[Acute effects of the administration of potassium on the organ uptake of Tl+ in the rabbit].

This paper describes the acute effects produced by administering potassium (2.7 and 5.5 mg.per kg of weight) to rabbits intoxicated with 10 and 30 mg.kg-1 of thallium. Acute capture (90 minutes) of thallium by skeletal muscle, left ventricle, liver and renal medulla and cortex is studied. Different doses of thallium were found to modify the organic capture in the studied organs with quantitative differences. The administering of potassium also modified the magnitude of capture, in different magnitudes, in the various organs. The modification produced depends more upon the studied organ than on the dose of potassium given. The skeletal muscle seems to manage the thallium-potassium interaction depending on the activation of sodium-potassium ATPase. The liver does not seem to be directly affected by the thallium-potassium interaction. The left ventricle captures thallium very rapidly, and also seems to depend on the activation of sodium potassium ATPase, and potassium increases thallium capture. The renal medulla captures 4 to 5 times more thallium than its cortex and the high dose of thallium seems to saturate the medulla's capture. The renal cortex's capture was not renal elimination of thallium is activated by potassium. The renal cortex uptake was not modified by potassium but the renal thallium elimination seems to be activated by potassium. The uptake by the renal medulla is diminished by potassium, suggesting a thallium-potassium interaction similar to the competitive inhibition described by McCall et al. (1985).