This research paper covers a long-term study conducted between the years 1954 and 1983 on 90Sr biokinetics in primates of the genera Macaca mulatta. The study was conducted in three different sites: Lawrence Barkeley Laboratory (LBL), University of Rochester (UR), and Delta Primate Center (Delta) which concluded the later study. The LBL study was in progress from 1954 to 1983 and studied 37 male and female monkeys which were all injected. On the other hand, the UR study that progressed between the years 1954 and 1964 before shifting to Delta (1964-1968) studied 10 and 24 90Sr injected and fed monkeys respectively. In synopsis, a total of 71 both male and female, either 90Sr injected or fed monkeys were studied. To be categorical, 61 out of 71 monkeys were 90Sr injected while the rest (10) were 90Sr fed (Durbin et al. 2).
Table 1 below portrays the findings researched by Durbin on 21 injected Rhesus monkeys but with established amounts of activity intravenously. Chiefly, this research focused on the distributions of 90Sr concentrations in injected monkeys as examined in blood plasma, excreta, and whole body. With regards to the table (LBL series) the parameters that were analyzed on the 21 coded monkeys (from Case R7M to R191M) were: injection method, injection date, deaths (number of days a live post-injection), the number of days post-injection when a serial blood sampling and an entire body count commenced, and % 90Sr in plasma otherwise whole blood. Days post-injection spanned from 1 to 7168 days. Blood samples were drawn from thirteen monkeys but periodically post-injection till death. Moreover, samples were drawn from five monkeys but semiannually, however; it commenced at a later stage after injection. Whole-body samples were drained from four monkeys, but periodically immediately post-injection, and later, semiannual body counts were recorded. Moreover, semiannual whole-body counts were recorded from six monkeys however this was done a few years post-injection. The scope of this review limits itself on the 90Sr plasma or whole blood concentrations as examined in monkeys of ages between 2 and 13.5 years.
Principally, according to Durbin et al., the concentration of 90Sr in plasma of an entire body of a monkey was obtained by the virtue of the radioanalysis technique. From the tabulated data below, the percentage concentrations of 90Sr (%IDmL-1) in the plasma/whole blood of a monkey could be calculated. As such, the weight of a monkey together with 90Sr concentrations in a blood sample of a monkey was vital in obtaining this. Of note, the results obtained could be expressed as Sr (%ID) in the entire plasma volume. Importantly, the densities of plasma and whole blood used to compute the results were akin to that one established for man. To this end, 1.027 g/ml was used for plasma while 1.058 g/ml was used for the entire blood. The total 90Sr in blood plasma could only be obtained after establishing the total volume of plasma and/or the whole blood volume per unit weight of a monkey. As it has explicitly been explained by Gregerson et al., monkeys (both sexes) with weights ranging from 3 to 7 kilograms were analyzed. From the analysis it was established that: the plasma volume was equivalent to 36.4 mL/Kg, the entire blood volume was 54.1 mL/Kg, and the hematocrit accounted for 0.66 mL/Kg. As for the plasma sample, the below formula was used to calculate the Sr (%ID) in the same:
Plasma Sr (%ID) = 36.4 x BW x %ID (sample) x 1.027 x w (sample)-1 (I). On the other hand, for the whole blood sample the below formula was used to calculate the same:
Plasma Sr (%ID) = 36.4 x BW x %ID (sample) x 1.058 x w (sample)-1 x 0.66. (II)
Notably, the body weight (BW) was measured in kilograms, and the sample weights were in grams (Durbin et al. 5).
It is vital to note that the entire monkey community in the LBL series underwent TB diagnosis though semiannually. It was during this time that they were weighed, tranquilized, and blood samples drained from their bodies. Moreover, their weights were also taken as they were being analyzed semiannually for the body count. For the sake of continuity of the data, and erroneously omitted body weight (BW) of a monkey was obtained via extrapolation of two consecutive weights recorded.
As for the whole-body count, the entire study was carried out as explained by the UR-Delta series. The parameters studied on coded monkeys (from case 301M to 374M) were tabulated on a different table and the analyzed parameters were: the colony number or the case number of a monkey, the date when the monkeys were injected or fed with 90Sr, the days to death after injection or feeding, the sites where the species died and where rationalists happened, and the time post-injection or feeding when the entire body counting was started. However, this review limits itself on the 90Sr concentrations in plasma and the whole blood of monkeys injected with the same.
Table 1: List of Monkeys injected intravenously at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) from 1954 to 1982.
Reference
Durbin, W Patricia et al. Collected original data on the distribution of 90strontium in plasma, whole body, and excreta of monkeys. New York: Division of Life Sciences Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Press, 1993.1-5. Print.