Autor: |
Tor-Agbidye, John, Palmer, Valerie S., Lasarev, Michael R., Craig, A. Morrie, Blythe, Linda L., Sabri, Mohammad I., Spencer, Peter S. |
Předmět: |
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Zdroj: |
Toxicological Sciences; Aug1999, Vol. 50 Issue 2, p228-235, 8p, 3 Charts, 8 Graphs |
Abstrakt: |
Neurological disorders have been reported from parts of Africa with protein-deficient populations and attributed to cyanide (CN-) exposure from prolonged dietary use of cassava, a cyanophoric plant. Cyanide is normally metabolized to thiocyanate (SCN-) by the sulfur-dependent enzyme rhodanese. However, in protein deficient subjects where sulfur amino acids (SAA) are low, CN- may conceivably be converted to cyanate (OCN-), which is known to cause neurodegenerative disease in humans and animals. This study investigates the fate of potassium cyanide administered orally to rats maintained for up to 4 weeks on either a balanced diet (BD) or a diet lacking the SAAs, L-cystine and L-methionine. In both groups, there was a time-dependent increase in plasma cyanate, with exponential OCN- increases in SAA-deficient rats. A strongly positive linear relationship between blood CN- and plasma OCN- concentrations was observed in these animals. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that cyanate is an important mediator of chronic cyanide neurotoxicity during protein-calorie deficiency. The potential role of thiocyanate in cassava-associated konzo is discussed in relationship to the etiology of the comparable pattern of motor-system disease (spastic paraparesis) seen in lathyrism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] |
Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
Externí odkaz: |
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