Biliary excretion of lead in rats rabbits,and dogs

The disappearance of ²¹⁰Pb from the blood and plasma of rats and its excretion into bile was measured for 2 hr after the iv administration of 0.1, 0.3, 1.0, 3.0, or 10 mg/kg of inorganic lead. The maximal rate of excretion of lead into the bile was approximately 1.0 μg/min/kg after the 3 higher doses. The concentration of lead in the bile was found to be 40–100 times that in the plasma for the 3 lower doses. This was due largely to the higher concentration of lead in the liver than in the plasma (10- to 35-fold higher) and partially to the higher concentration in the bile than in the liver (3- to 4-fold higher). Essentially none of the lead in the bile, plasma, and liver was dialyzable. Lead exhibited a 5-fold greater affinity for liver than bile and a 3-fold greater affinity for liver than plasma. The mitochondrial fraction contained the highest concentration of lead. Changing the rectal temperature of rats altered the biliary excretion of lead markedly; when the temperature was increased from 30 to 40°C, the biliary excretion of lead increased 20-fold. Marked species differences in the biliary excretion of lead were observed. Rabbits excreted lead into the bile at a rate less than one-half, and dogs excreted lead at a rate less than one-fiftieth, that observed in the rat. The results indicate that lead is excreted into the bile of rats against an apparent concentration gradient and that an apparent transport maximum exists. This suggests that the liver may have an active transport mechanism for the excretion of metals.