posted on 2017-01-18, 00:00authored byYung-Yi Cheng, Tung-Hu Tsai
The International Agency for Research
on Cancer (IARC) demonstrated
rhodamine B as a potential carcinogen in 1978. Nevertheless, rhodamine
B has been illegally used as a colorant in food in many countries.
Few pharmacokinetic and toxicological investigations have been performed
since the first pharmacokinetic study on rhodamine B in 1961. The
aims of this study were to develop a simple and sensitive high-performance
liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection for the quantitative
detection of rhodamine B in the plasma and organs of rats and to estimate
its pharmacokinetics and biodistribution. The results demonstrated
that the oral bioavailabilities of rhodamine B were 28.3 and 9.8%
for the low-dose and high-dose exposures, respectively. Furthermore,
rhodamine B was highly accumulated in the liver and, to a lesser extent,
the kidney, but was undetectable in the brain. These results provide
useful information for improving the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution
of rhodamine B, supporting additional food safety evaluations.