Abstract
1. When [3H]solanidine was administered to normal human subjects by i.v. injection, the tritium concentration in the erythrocytes was 2–5 times greater than in the plasma. Three phases in the clearance of tritium from the plasma were identified having half-times of 2–5 min, 120–300 min and 70–105 h.
2. Rates of excretion of 3H in urine and faeces were low: 24h after administration, 1–4% of the dose of 3H had been excreted in urine and 1–3% in faeces. During the following week the combined rates of excretion were about 2% a day.
3. Solanidine has been detected in human post-mortem liver and its identity confirmed by mass spectroscopy.
4. These data show that solanidine is absorbed from the diet and stored in the body for prolonged periods of time. We suggest that at times of increased metabolic stress (pregnancy, starvation, debilitating illness), stored solanidine might be mobilized from innocuous loci with deleterious effects.