In vitro Uptake of Iodine-131 by Salivary Glands, Stomach and Placenta

Abstract

THE ability of the thyroid gland to accumulate iodide against a concentration gradient and to maintain a high gland/plasma concentration is well known. Recently it has been shown that in vitro uptake of iodine-131 by the lactating mammary tissue of the rat was 10–15 times that of liver, muscle or boiled mammary tissue, and uptake of iodine-131 was increased to about twice the level observed in fresh mammary tissue by storage for 24 hr. in Ringer-phosphate at 7° C. and continued high for 25 days storage¹. In the present experiments, in vitro uptake of iodine-131 by salivary glands, that is, sub-maxillary, parotid and sublingual ; different regions of stomach, that is, fundic and pyloric ; placentæ, that is, fætal and maternal ; duodenum and liver of rat were studied by incubating the tissue at 37° C. for 6 hr. in nutrient medium with pH 7.2 and the effects of thiouracil, potassium thiocyanate. sodium cyanide, iodide and thyroid-stimulating hormone on uptake of iodine-131 by these tissues were also investigated.