Isolation and measurement of 15N2 from respiratory gases of animals administered 15N-labeled substances.

A method is described for collection of metabolic 15N2 from in vitro preparations or intact rats administered 15N-containing compounds. The methods enables routine collection and mass spectrometric measurement of as little as 10 mumol 15N2 respired by a rat over a 24-h period. A device is described that includes either an animal chamber or a tissue reaction vessel in a closed recycling atmosphere, with automatic O2 replenishment and removal of CO2 and water. It is capable of sustaining moderate vacuum and is coupled to a high-vacuum manifold designed to process the contained atmosphere and respiratory gases. The starting atmosphere is an 80:20 mix of sulfur hexafluoride and O2. Recovery of 15N2 gas from the system without an animal present was 101.3 +/- 5.75%. When 15N2 gas was very slowly infused iv into an animal, recovery was 89.1 +/- 5.38%. Use of the method in studies of the fate of [15N]hydrazine in rats indicated that about 15% of the administered hydrazine is rapidly converted to 15N2, followed by slower conversion of an additional 7-10% over the next several hours.