| Abstract: | Pristane (2,6,10,14 -tetramethylpentadecane) occurs ubiquitously in the marine environment. This hydrocarbon may be of biogenic or petrogenic origin.1 Recently it has been shown that residual amounts of this branched alkane increased in marine organisms after an oil spill.2,3 The lack of data on the fate of pristane in fish, added with the fact that this compound was considered by some authors as a non-metabolisable substance in vertebrates, including man,4 led us to investigate the capability of fish to metabolise pristane. In this study, urinary and fecal excretion, tissue distribution and metabolism of 3H-pristane were analysed in Salmo gairdneri R. after a single intragastric dose. In addition to unchanged hydrocarbon, various labelled compounds have been isolated and identified in liver, bile, faeces, urine and surrounding water, demonstrating that pristane was first oxidised to alcohols (pristanol and pristane-diol) and to acid (pristanic acid). The elimination of these compounds occurred in the form of conjugated products (primarily glucuronides) as well as free metabolites. |
