intoxication by alkalis

Lead is perhaps the longest used and best recognized toxic environmental chemical and it is still being used recklessly. Lead (Pb) has been found to be capable of eliciting a positive response in an extraordinarily wide range of biological and biochemical tests; among them tests for enzyme inhibition, fidelity of DNA synthesis, mutation, chromosomal aberrations, cancer and birth defects. Since inhalation is one of the most important routes of environmental Pb exposure, in the present study a lead inhalation model in mice was implemented in order to detect the induction of genotoxic damage as single-strand breaks and alkali-labile sites in several mouse organs (nasal epithelial cells, lung, whole blood, liver, kidney, bone marrow, brain and testes), assessed by single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) or Comet assay...

The use of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) for the simultaneous determination of Al, B, Ba, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Sr and Zn in human serum in a clinical laboratory was validated. Samples were digested and then analysed using yttrium as an internal standard and a serum-matched calibration standard. The criteria used to assess the analytical performance of the ICP-AES were detection and quantification limits, linearity, sensitivity, recovery, interference from alkali and acid, trueness and precision...

We describe a 4 year old girl with acute Aeromonas hydrophila gastro-enteritis who presented with a combination of hypercalcemia, metabolic alkalosis, and renal impairment. Serum parathyroid hormone was not elevated. Both milk-alkali syndrome and intoxication of vitamins A and D were ruled out. The hypercalcemia, metabolic alkalosis, and renal impairment were improved by fluid infusion and intravenous administration of furosemide. Gastro-enteritis also improved with oral administration of the antibiotic norfloxacin...

A gas chromatographic method for the detection of tetrodotoxin in autopsy material is described. The derivative (2-amino-6-hydroxymethyl-8-hydroxyquinazoline, C9-base), which was obtained from tetrodotoxin by alkali treatment, was finally detected by gas chromatography. The mass spectra of the trimethysilylated ( TMS) C9-base are presented together with the result of a gas chromatographic investigation of 8 cases of fatal intoxication.

The alkali metals from the Group IA of the periodic table (lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium and francium) are reviewed. The neuropsychiatric aspects of alkali metal deficiencies and excesses (intoxications) are described. Emphasis was placed on lithium due to its clinical uses. The signs and symptoms of these conditions are characterized by features of an organic brain syndrome with delirium and encephalopathy prevailing. There are no clinically distinctive features that could be reliably used for diagnoses...

HI 6 has been shown to be efficacious in soman intoxication of laboratory animals by reactivation of acetylcholinesterase. To assess possible risks involved in the administration of HI 6 its degradation products were analyzed at pH 2.0, 4.0, 7.4, and 9.0. At pH 2.0, where HI 6 in aqueous solution has its maximal stability, attack on the aminal-acetal bond of the "ether bridge" predominates, with formation of formaldehyde, isonicotinamide, and pyridine-2-aldoxime. Besides, HI 6 decomposes at the oxime group yielding 2-cyanopyridine...

Methanol and ethylene glycol poisonings share many characteristics both clinically and biochemically. Both alcohols are metabolised via alcohol dehydrogenase to their toxic metabolites. Methanol is slowly metabolised to formaldehyde which is rapidly metabolised to formate, the metabolite mainly responsible for methanol toxicity. Formate metabolism depends upon the folate pool which is small in primates compared with other animals. Therefore, formate accumulates in primates during methanol intoxication and is mainly responsible for the metabolic acidosis in the early stage of intoxication...

Activated charcoal has an ability to adsorb a wide variety of substances. This property can be applied to prevent the gastrointestinal absorption of various drugs and toxins and to increase their elimination, even after systemic absorption. Single doses of oral activated charcoal effectively prevent the gastrointestinal absorption of most drugs and toxins present in the stomach at the time of charcoal administration. Known exceptions are alcohols, cyanide, and metals such as iron and lithium. In general, activated charcoal is more effective than gastric emptying...

Colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS) possesses at least equal efficacy with histamine H2-receptor antagonist drugs in the treatment of peptic ulcer disease. However, CBS has the advantage of slower ulcer relapse rates than those seen after initial healing with the H2-antagonists. It has been postulated that this effect may be partly due to the antibacterial properties of CBS against Campylobacter pylori, a bacterium found in the gastric mucosa and gastric metaplasia within the duodenum of most patients with peptic ulcer and closely associated with gastritis...

Apart from the classic distal renal tubular acidosis (RTA), the proximal RTA, and a few cases of distal RTA and renal bicarbonate wasting we know only 2 cases of infantile transient distal RTA with bicarbonate wasting. A 3 month-old male patient is admitted because of deficient suction, vomiting and dehydration. Despite a strong metabolic acidosis (pH 7,09, bicarbonate 8,6 mMol/l, chloride 110 meq/l) the urine is constantly alkaline; clinically the disease manifests itself in the form of an alkali-resistant RTA...

A variety of drugs and toxins can produce severe abdominal pain and, in some cases, a surgical abdomen. Toxins can be classified according to mechanisms of injury: 1. Corrosives often produce severe gastroenteritis and may result in gastric or esophageal perforations. Examples of corrosive substances include aspirin, iron, mercury, acids and alkali. 2. Drugs may cause intestinal ileus or obstruction by pharmacologic actions (i.e., anticholinergic drugs and narcotics) or by mechanical obstruction (charcoal and drug bezoars)...

The hemodynamic effects of severe iron poisoning were studied in five mongrel dogs. Anesthetized animals were instrumented with arterial, venous, and pulmonary artery thermodilution catheters. Iron intoxication was induced by orogastric administration of ferrous sulfate (600 mg/kg elemental iron). Pulmonary artery wedge pressure values were maintained near preintoxication values by saline infusion, and sodium bicarbonate (1.5 mEq/kg/dose) was given for pH less than 7.25. Hourly hemodynamic measurements were obtained for five hours...

Selenium belongs to the group of elements which may be regarded as useful only in a very narrow range, while in excess doses they exert a harmful action. The content of the element in soil is usually from 0.1 to 2 mg/kg, with the Scandinavian soils have a low level of selenium, not exceeding 0.3 mg/kg. The highest level, exceeding 3000 mg/kg was noted in Northern Ireland. Selenium content in soil over 500 mg/kg produces chronic selenium intoxication in domestic animals. Selenium accumulation by plants is a selective process and depends on the chemical state of the element in soil and pH of soil...

The earliest written report of selenium poisoning is thought to be the description by Marco Polo of a necrotic hoof disease of horses that occurred in China in 13. century. However recognition of Se as toxic principle come in the early 1930s. Severity of Se poisoning depends on chemical forms of the element, species of animals and routes of administration. The soluble Se salts (Na2SeO3 and Na2SeO4) appear to be among the more toxic compounds; the Se inherent in grains and selenoamino acids (selenomethionine and selenocystine) appear to have relative moderate toxicity; the poorly soluble forms (e...

Histochemical investigation of rat skeletal muscle samples removed immediately post mortem from exercised rats gave the following results: (1) Of the oxidoreductase enzymes studied, there was a slight increase in the activity of cytochrome oxidase. (2) There was no change in the acid- and alkali-stable actomyosin ATPase activity. (3) There was a notable decrease in glycogen concentration. In the case of strychnine intoxication: (1) There was no change in oxidoreductase enzymes. (2) There was an increase in the activity of alkali-stable ATPase in white fibres...