Effect of potential antidotes on the acute toxicity, tissue disposition and elimination of selenium in rats.

Treatment of male Wistar rats with sodium selenate (2.24 mg Se/kg, s.c.) inhibited their body weight gain for 24 hr, after which the animals recovered. Intraperitoneal injections of sodium-2,3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulphonic acid (60 mg/kg), meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (50.9 mg/kg) and calcium disodium ethylenediamine-tetraacetate (500 mg/kg) 15 min after Se had no protective effect, whilst 2,3-dimercaptopropanol (15 mg/kg) inhibited the recovery of the Se-treated animal. Sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC, 70 mg/kg, i.p.) reduced the Se-induced loss of body weight but had no effect on the tissue disposition of 75Se when injected 15 min, 3 hr or 6 hr after a s.c. injection of sodium [75Se] selenite (50 microCi, 17.4 micrograms Se/kg). The citrate salts of bismuth (2.5 and 5 mg Bi/kg, s.c.), antimony (1.5 and 3 mg Sb/kg, s.c.) and germanium (40 mg Ge/kg, s.c.) also reduced the selenate-induced loss of body weight, whilst germanium citrate (40 mg Ge/kg) and bis-carboxyethyl germanium sesquioxide (80, 200 and 400 mg Ge/kg) promoted significant dose-related increases in the 24 hr urinary excretion of 75Se when given 15 min after sodium [75Se] selenite (30 microCi, 0.5 mg Se/kg, s.c.).