Penicillamine produces changes in the acute blood elimination and tissue accumulation of thallium

D-penicillamine (PCA) is used by some physicians in human thallium intoxication. With the aim of learning how the blood thallium altered kinetics and the modifications produced on the tissue accumulation, we administered PCA to white male thallium dosed rabbits. The method consisted of intravenous (i.v.) administration of thallium (10 mg/kg) to three groups of rabbits. The first group (control) received only the metal, the second group (treatment A) received PCA (25 mg/kg) at the 70th minute after thallium dose, the third group (treatment B) received the PCA at the same dose, 30 sec before the metal was administered. For kinetics studies, blood samples were collected in all groups at minutes 65, 70, 71, 73, 75, 80, 85 and 90. For thallium accumulation studies, bile, urine and tissue samples were collected. Thallium analyses were made by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results showed that in treatment A rabbits, the blood thallium concentration raised significantly at the 71st and 73rd minutes. Concerning metal in tissues, muscle mass accumulated significantly more thallium by the B-treatment, while brain accumulation was significantly greater with treatment A. In conclusion, the PCA modifies the blood thallium elimination acute kinetics for a few minutes and changes its accumulation in some tissues, suggesting that PCA extracts the metal from tissues and then re-distributes it throughout the organism.