Movement of Radiostrontium Through Intestinal Tract of Fed or Fasted Rats.

Abstract

Sr89 was administered by stomach tube, and at various intervals rats were killed and the intestinal tracts removed. The radioactivity along the gut was determined by drawing the gut at constant speed beneath a collimated GM (Geiger counting) tube. Radioactivity was recorded continuously using a ratemeter and recording milliameter. The advantages of the method are that a radioactive tracer does not lag behind gut contents as do beads, nor alter progress of food as does barium, and it is easily located when mixed with feces. Rats which had been previously fed showed ealier stomach, duodeno-jejunal and colon emptying, but retained Sr89 longer in the ileum.