Distribution of C14-labelled arteether in kidneys and livers of experimental mice after intramuscular injection.

To study the distribution and localization of oil-soluble arteether in experimental mice, we injected C14-labelled arteether (20 microCi/kg body weight) intramuscularly and measured radioactivity in the blood, kidney, and liver. The labelled arteether distributed and localized more to the kidney (819,180.4 +/- 34,134 dpm/cm3) than the liver (288,628.9 +/- 54,954 dpm/cm3) 4 hours post-injection. The main localization of labelled arteether was in the kidney cortex rather than the medulla (p < 0.05). However, the distribution of radioactivity was homogeneous in the liver. The terminal half-life of labelled arteether in the blood was 1.8 hours. The blood:kidney:liver ratio was 1:5:2. These findings show that labelled arteether was distributed quickly and localized in the cytoplasmic cortex of the kidney and homogeneously in the liver.