Multielement investigation of human bile by means of instrumental neutron activation analysis

In a study on gold containing antirheumatic agents, the portion of gold that was eliminated via liver was quantified. Seven patients whose gall bladders had just been removed surgically received 5 tablets RIDAURA^® containing a total amount of 4.35 mg gold in the chemical compound Auranofin. In the following 7 days samples of hepatic bile were collected and analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). After a 3-day irradiation with neutrons in the Research Reactor Geesthacht (FRG) and after a waiting time of 5–10 days, the limit of detection for gold was about 0.03 ng. The gold concentration in bile reached the maximum value (≈65 ng/ml) after about 16 hours and decreased with a biological half-life, first of 21 hours and later, in the end phase, of 6.5 days. Further elements were determined in the hepatic bile: Na, Ca, Fe, Co, Zn, Se, Br, Rb, Cs, Ba, Hg and sporadically K, Sc, Cr, Ni, Sb, La, Ce, Eu, Tb, Hf, Ta, Th. Some of these elements occurred in clusters. The blank values of the quartz ampoules and the precision, accuracy and limit of detection of these elements are given. The element concentrations found in bile are compared with those in plasma and classified after BRAUER.