Effect of subchronic oral treatment with terbium on gastrointestinal uptake of calcium and phosphorus

Basic and applied studies to develop pioneering technology have been widely performed. Recently, rare earth elements have become regarded as promising new basic materials for superconductors, ceramics and amorphous substances, and should become important in modem industries. However, increased exposure to rare earth elements, might adversely affect human health. The metabolism and toxicity of rare earth elements have conventionally been studied with radioisotopes, but these methods have inherent problems in that the radioisotopes used may form radiocolloids and their radioactivity is toxic. Recently, metabolism of dysprosium, europium, ytterbium and yttrium by ICP-AES and the biological effects of lanthanum have been reported. However, the studies on biological effects of rare earth elements have just begun, so very few have been reported. We therefore investigated effects of rare earth element, terbium (Tb) on the excretion into the urine and feces, as well as the distribution of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) in the liver, pancreas, spleen, kidney, lung, heart, thymus, brain, bone, and blood of male rats. 21 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.