Storage and excretion of DDT in starved rats

Before and immediately after a 10-day period of partial starvation and again after 40 additional days' recovery, DDT and its metabolites were measured in the fat of rats fed traces of the insecticide and in the fat, plasma, brain, liver, kidney, urine, and feces of rats fed the compound at a rate of 200 ppm. Mobilization of body fat during starvation resulted in an increased concentration of DDT-derived material in that tissue and a corresponding increase in the other tissues. An augmented excretion of metabolites occurred during starvation in spite of decreased intake of DDT. The increased excretion was inadequate to prevent the increase in concentration of DDT-derived material in the body although it tended to do so. When sufficiently great, the augmented concentration of DDT in the brain associated with starvation was correlated with the occurrence of signs of poisoning. Storage and excretion tended to return to prestarvation levels during recovery, but some lack of parallelism was observed between the concentration of DDT-derived materials in brain, liver, and kidney as compared with fat and plasma.