Distribution of Nitrite and Nitrate in Mouse Tissues Fate of Nitrite and Nitrate in the Mouse. 1

• Published in: Food Hygiene and Safety Science (Shokuhin Eiseigaku Zasshi) Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 168 - 176_1
• Main Authors: TANAKA, Akio, NOSE, Norihide, MASAKI, Hiroyuki, IWASAKI, Hisao, HARUTA, Misao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Japanese Society for Food Hygiene and Safety 05.04.1984
• Subjects: distribution; gas-liquid chromatography; mouse; nitrate; nitrite; stable isotope of potassium nitrate (15N); stable isotope of sodium nitrite (15N)
• ISSN: 0015-6426; 1882-1006
• DOI: 10.3358/shokueishi.25.168

The tissue distribution (brain, lung, spleen, heart, kidney and liver) of nitrite and nitrate in normal mice was investigated by the use of gas-liquid chromatography (GC) with an electron-capture detector. The average contents of nitrite and nitrate in tissues were as follows, brain 0.09μg, lung 0.12μg, spleen 0.07μg, heart 0.12μg, kidney 0.15μg, and liver 0.24μg for nitrite, and brain 0.66μg, lung 0.62μg, spleen 0.72μg, heart 0.64μg, kidney 1.12μg and liver 1.12μg for nitrate. Further, the contents of nitrite and nitrate in various tissues at 30min after oral administration of 100μg or 500μg (as NO2-15N or NO3-15N) of the stable isotope as Na15NO2 or K15NO3 were measured. The amounts detected in each tissue immediately after oral administration were higher than those under normal conditions. In particular, it was noteworthy that NO2-15N was detected after administration of NO3-15N (500μg). The identity of the stable isotope of nitrite and nitrate extracted from various tissues was confirmed by GC-mass spectrometry. The GC method gave satisfactory recoveries of nitrite and nitrate in various tissues. Although the colorimetric method is influenced by the extract of liver, the GC method was not affected, and it was successfully applied to the determination of nitrite and nitrate in all the mouse tissues.