Determination of platinum by radiochemical neutron activation analysis in neural tissues from rats, monkeys and patients treated with cisplatin Original Research Article

Cisplatin is one of the most used antineoplastic drugs, essential for the treatment of germ cell tumours. Its use in medical treatment of cancer patients often causes chronic peripheral neuropathy in these patients. The distribution of cisplatin in neural tissues is, therefore, of great interest. Rats and monkeys were used as animal models for the study of sensory changes in different neural tissues, like spinal cord (ventral and dorsal part), dorsal root ganglia and sural nerve. The study was combined with quantitative measurements of the content of platinum in the neural tissues of the animals mentioned and in the neural tissues of human patients. For the determination of platinum in the tissues radiochemical neutron activation analysis has been used. The detection limit is 1 ng Pt g−1. The platinum results indicate that platinum becomes accumulated in the dorsal root ganglia and in the sural nerve.