[Comparative study of five trialkyltin compounds: their metabolites in rat organs 24 hours after single oral...

The objective of this study is to provide basic information on the metabolic fate of five trialkyltins, namely, trimethyltin, triethyltin, tripropyltin, tributyltin, and trioctyltin, in rats.

The levels of trialkyltin and its metabolites in the liver, kidneys, brain, and blood of rats and mice were determined 24h after single oral treatment with trimethyltin, triethyltin, tripropyltin, tributyltin, and trioctyltin by gas chromatography. The doses (as tin) of the trialkyltin compounds were 2.98 mg/kg for trimethyltin and triethyltin, 18.23 mg/kg for tripropyltin and tributyltin and 24.09 mg/kg for trioctyltin.

For the trimethyltin and triethyltin treatments, no metabolites of either trialkyltin accumulated in the organs, except for the kidney in the triethyltin treatment. The levels of trimethyltin and triethyltin in the blood of the rats were markedly higher than those of the mice. For the tripropyltin and tributyltin treatments, the predominant metabolites in the liver and kidneys were found to be dialkyltins. Furthermore, despite the higher dose, the level of total tin in the organs 24 h after treatment with trioctyltin were markedly lower than those of the other trialkyltins tested.

There are clear differences in the metabolic fates of the tin metabolites of the five trialkyItins studied. These results should be considered when carrying out toxicological research on trialkyltins.