[Redistribution and toxic action of DDT deposited in the body]

In tests on Wistar male-rats the toxic action and redistribution of the DDT repository in the fatty tissue were investigated. For this purpose a DDT depot was built up by introducing DDT in a dose of 0.2 mg/kg for a period of 6 months, following which the rats were made to fast for 20 days, this securing the egress of DDT from the depot. Furthermore, some of the rats, once the depot had been built up, were for 1 month put on a ration containing 5 per cent of protein and then subjected to fasting for 20 days, this having been done in order to study the toxic effect of DDT against the background of a diet with a low protein content. It was found that the amount of DDT retained in the organs and tissues (omentum, liver, brain) investigated in the test rats did not exceed 10 per cent of the quantity that had been introduced at the time of building up the depot. At the time of fasting there was noted migration of DDT from the fat depot, it being the same both in the test and control animals. But DDT coming from the DDT repository entered the liver and brain only in the test animals, provoking changes in the activity of a number of enzymes in these organs. A low protein diet somewhat intensified these changes.