QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Berry, R. K. Articles by Wysocki, A. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Berry, R. K. Articles by Wysocki, A. A.

Absorption, Deposition and Placental Transfer of Sulfate Sulfur by Gilts¹

Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Seventeen swine were dosed with sodium ³⁵S sulfate to study the absorption, excretion, placental transfer and maternal-fetal tissue distribution of sulfur. During 7-day balance studies, barrows consumed 2.21 g sulfur/day and excreted 1.31 and 0.40 g sulfur/day in urine and feces, respectively. Both orally and intravenously administered ³⁵S were rapidly eliminated primarily through urinary excretion. Blood levels decreased 90% within 24 hours after intravenous dosing, and ³⁵S administered orally reached a peak level in whole blood and serum after 3 hours, after which time the concentration curves reflected a gradual disappearance rate to 168 hours, similar to that for ³⁵S injected. Data obtained from gilts killed at 38, 76 and 112 days gestation revealed that most maternal tissues contained between 1 and 2 mg S/g fresh tissue, compared with less than 1 mg/g for fetal tissue. In the products of conception, the proportion of ³⁵S decreased in the placenta and fluids and increased in fetuses as pregnancy advanced. Labeled sulfur concentration was greater in bone than soft tissues in both maternal and fetal tissues. Six hours after intravenous dose administration ³⁵S concentration in maternal tissue was highest, then decreased with time, whereas fetal tissues did not obtain maximum ³⁵S levels until after 24 hours and receded progressively during the following 13 days. Gilts of trimester 3 deposited, after 7 days, 9% of that ³⁵S retained in the fetuses (64%), the uterus and maternal placenta (26%) and the fluids (10%). Because increasing increments of ³⁵S occurred in the fetus concurrent with advancing pregnancy, placental transfer appeared to be a direct function of need or fetal age.

² Postdoctorate Research Fellow 1967–1968, sponsored by the Sulphur Institute, Washington, D. C. Present address: University of Kentucky, Maysville Community College, Maysville, Kentucky 41056.

³ Present address: Department of Animal Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916.

Manuscript received 12 August 1968.