Pharmacokinetics of Alcide, a germicidal compound in rat

Alcide is a germicidal compound which is currently being used as a liquid sterilizer. This agent has the ability to kill a wide range of bacteria, viruses and fungi in vitro within 1 min. The active ingredients in this sterilizer are sodium chlorite and lactic acid. The kinetics of 36Cl-labelled liquid Alcide were studied in rats. After oral administration, the peak plasma level was obtained in 8 h. The half life for 36Cl absorption from plasma was 8.03 h, corresponding to a rate constant of 0.086 h-1, while the half life for 36Cl elimination from plasma was 48.02 h, corresponding to a rate constant of 0.014 h-1. At 144 h, radioactivity was highest in plasma followed by lung, kidney, skin, bone marrow, stomach, ovary, duodenum, ileum, spleen, fat, brain, liver and carcass. The greatest amount of activity in whole blood was present in plasma. Subcellular distribution revealed that 85% of the activity in the liver homogenate resided in the cytosol. Seventy per cent of total activity in plasma was located in the trichloroacetic acid (TCA) supernant, with 30% bound to the precipitated protein fraction. Urinary excretion accounted for most of the 36Cl eliminated. Radioactivity was excreted as chloride and chlorite in urine.