Studies on arsenic metabolism (XIV). Effect of lactoalbumin, eggalbumin on arsenic excretion and storage

When arsenite was added to the diets, the content of arsenite in organs decreased according to the amount of milk as the constituent. In a previous study (S. Nozaki : Folia Pharmacol. japon 68, 857, (1972)), it was found that this factor was related to the casein. The present study was carried out to ascertain the same factor in lactoalbumin and eggalbumin. Male albino rats of Wistar strain (Tamura 1950) by closed colony, weighing about 100 g, were used. The experimental groups were fed cereal diets to which lactoalbumin or eggalbumin had been added in the rate of 20%. Cereal only was given to the control group. Arsenite in dose of 650 ppm was added to every diet and each group was fed for 35 days. There was no statistically significant difference concerning gain in body weight among the groups. There was no difference in the arsenic content in urine, feces, brain, kidney and spleen as determined by the method of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The arsenic content in the whole liver of the lactoalbumin group was higher than in the control group, but in the organs calculated per g the quantity was the same in all groups. The content of arsenite in the whole lung was much the same as that in the control group, but in the organs per g there was little, and no statistically significant difference.