Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T00:16:03.617Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Determination of ruthenium and chromium by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and the use of inert ruthenium (II) phenanthroline as a solid phase marker in sheep digestion studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

C. C. Evans
Affiliation:
Hill Farming Research Organisation, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian
J. C. Macrae
Affiliation:
Hill Farming Research Organisation, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian
S. Wilson
Affiliation:
Hill Farming Research Organisation, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian

Summary

The quantitative estimation of ruthenium and chromium in faeces and digesta from sheep by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry is described. Estimates of calibration parameters, established by regression analysis, were applicable to a range of matrices. Lower limits of detection of 2·4 mg Ru/kg (solid), 1·8 mg Ru/1 (liquid), 1·6 mg Cr/kg (solid) and 1·1 mg Cr/1 (liquid) and precisions, expressed as coefficients of variation, of 5·4% at 17·7 mg Ru/kg (solid), 5·1% at 182·7 mg Cr/kg (solid) and 1·1% at 152 mg Cr/1 (liquid) were acceptable for the routine analysis of Ru and Cr.

The use of inert ruthenium phenanthroline (Ru-P) and inert chromium ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (Cr-EDTA) as solid:liquid dual phase markers in digestive physiological studies was evaluated. The specificity of Ru-P for the particulate phase of digesta, established by both in vitro and in vivo experiments, was found to be 92–98%, and in vivo recovery of intraruminally administered Ru-P in faeces was 97–101%. In vitro incubation of rumen liquor showed that concentrations of Ru-P up to 10−4 M had little effect on volatile fatty acid production rates but at 10−3 M there was virtually complete inhibition of acetate and propionate production.

Advantages of using inert Ru-P as a solid phase marker are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andermann, G. & Kemp, J. W. (1958). Scattered X-rays as internal standards in X-ray emission speotroscopy. Analytical Chemistry 30, 1306–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binnerts, W. T., Van't Klooster, A. Th. & Frens, A. M. (1968). Soluble chromium indicator measured by atomic absorption in digestion experiments. The Veterinary Record 82, 16, 470.Google Scholar
Downes, A. M. & McDonald, I. W. (1964). The chromium-51 complex of ethylenediamine tetracetic acid as a soluble rumen marker. British Journal of Nutrition 18, 153–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, C. C. (1970). X-ray fluorescence analysis for light elements in plant and faecal materials. The Analyst 95, 919–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Faichney, G. J. (1975). The use of markers to partition digestion within the gastro-intestinal tract of ruminants. Digestion and Metabolism in the Ruminant (ed. McDonald, I. W. and Warner, A. C. I.), pp. 277–91. Published by the University of New England.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R. & De Vries, J. L. (1967). Practical X-ray Spectrometry. N. V. Philips' Gloeilampenfabrieken, Eindhoven, 13–7.Google Scholar
MacRae, J. C. (1974). The use of intestinal markers to measure digestive function in ruminants. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 33, 147–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacRae, J. C. & Evans, C. C. (1974). The use of inert ruthenium-phenanthroline as a digesta particulate marker in sheep. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 33, 10A.Google ScholarPubMed
MacRae, J. C. & Wilson, S. (1977). The effects of various forms of gastro-intestinal cannulation on digestive measurements in sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 38, 6571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schweitzer, G. K. & Jackson, M. (1952). Radiocolloids. Journal of Chemical Education 29, 513–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, W. E., Stewart, D. G. & Schultz, L. H. (1958). Rates of volatile fatty acid production in the bovine rumen. Journal of Animal Science 17, 723–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tan, T. N., Weston, R. H. & Hogan, J. P. (1971). Use of 103Ru-labelled (tris, 1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium (II) chloride as a marker in digestion studies with sheep. International Journal of Applied Radiation and Isotopes 22, 5, 301–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ziolecki, A. & Kwiatkowska, E. (1973). Gas chromatography of C1 to C5 fatty acids in rumen fluid and fermentation media. Journal of Chromatography 80, 250–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed