Biliary excretion of selenium in the dog after administration of sodium selenate containing radioselenium.

Selenium is known to be present in the bile of selenium-treated animais. Smith et al. (I) reported that rabbit bile, after acute and subacute poisoning with sodium selenite and selenate (0.5 to 3 mg. of selenium per kilo), contained smaller amounts of selenium (36 to 48 y per cent) after oral treatment than after intravenous treatment (336 y per cent). In studies by Dudley (2), it was found, after administration of sodium selenate or organoselenium from selenium-bearing plants, that bile of hog, sheep, and calf contained 1 to 6 parts per million of selenium. In a later report, Smith et al. (3) found relatively little selenium in the bile of rabbit and cat after a single subtoxic, intravenous injection of sodium selenate. In continuation of an interest in the distribution and excretion of selenium, it was the plan of experiments presented here (a) to study the rate of excretion via bile in the dog after a single subtoxic, intraperitoneal injection of sodium selenate containing radioselenium, and (b) to investigate the form in which selenium was present in the bile. It was observed, after injection of sodium selenate containing trace amounts of radioselenium, that selenium rapidly appeared in the bile, and that a portion of the biliary selenium was fixed in the bile pigments.