Strontium Metabolism and Strontium-Calcium Discrimination in Man

Summary 1) These studies indicate that the behavior of radiostrontium in man is similar to that in animals. When ingested in water solution by adults, about 74% was excreted via the feces and 6% via the urine; the absorption occurred mainly within 4 hours after ingestion. Values are given for the plasma and urinary levels attained at steady state under conditions of ingestion with milk at each meal; these may be of use for monitoring purposes. 2) Two leukemia patients showed low plasma and urinary levels of radiostrontium whereas a patient with an osteolytic lesion showed a tendency towards high plasma levels. 3) When radiostrontium and radiocalcium were fed simultaneously in milk with each meal for several days there was a discrimination against strontium by a factor of about 2; this resulted almost equally from preferential absorption of calcium and preferential urinary excretion of strontium.