This chart review was undertaken to assess efficacy and safety of hydroxocobalamin for acute cyanide poisoning. Hospital records of the Fernand Widal and Lariboisière Hospitals were reviewed for intensive care unit admissions with cyanide poisoning for which hydroxocobalamin was used as first-line treatment from 1988 to 2003. Smoke inhalation cases were excluded. Hydroxocobalamin (5-20 g) was a...

We studied one patient with Leber's optic atrophy (LOA) in the acute stage and 12 at the chronic stage of the disease, and measured the activity of rhodanese in white blood cells and the level of cyanide in whole blood. In the patient with acute disease the blood cyanide level was significantly increased at first. Treatment of this patient with cyanide antagonists reduced his cyanide level, but...

It has been known that cardiomyocytes possess a remarkable ability to downregulate their energy expenditure on restricted 02 supply. However it has also been speculated that an ability to suppress aerobic respiration and ATP utilization could be a protective response to prolonged hypoxia. Having the role of the cytochrome oxidase enzyme in mind, one can ask if its inhibition by using cyani...

Cyanide extraction of gold through milling of high-grade ores and heap leaching of low-grade ores requires cycling of millions of liters of alkaline water containing high concentrations of potentially toxic sodium cyanide (NaCN), free cyanide, and metal-cyanide complexes. Some milling operations result in tailings ponds of 150 ha and larger. Heap leach operations that spray or drip cyanide onto...

The effect of lyophilised aqueous extract of Telfairia occidentalis (TO) on induced cyanide toxicity in rats was investigated. Twenty 3-week old male wistar albino rats were randomly distributed into one control and three treatment groups of five rats each: control group (group1), group treated with 3mg/kg body wt of cyanide only (group2), group treated with 3mg/kg body wt. each of cyanide and ...

The half-times of oxidation by oxygen pulses of reduced cytochromes a and a(3) in mung bean mitochondria made anaerobic with succinate have been measured by means of a rapid mixing flow apparatus coupled to a dual wave length spectrophotometer in the presence and absence of cyanide. The absorbance changes at 438 to 455 millimicrons and 603 to 620 millimicrons are suitable for recording the time...

The enzyme rhodanese (thiosulfate: cyanide sulfurtransferase) is a ubiquitous enzyme and its activity ispresent in all living organisms. Many functions including cyanide detoxification, formation of iron-sulfurcenters and participation in energy metabolism have been attributed to this enzyme. The enzyme catalyzesthe transfer of a sulfur atom from sulfane containing compounds (such as thiosulfat...

Early detection of the cyanobacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lungs of young children with cystic fibrosis (CF) is considered the key to delaying chronic pulmonary disease. We investigated whether cyanide in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid could be used as an early diagnostic biomarker of infection. Cyanide was measured in 226 BAL samples (36 P. aeruginosa infected) obtained from 96 in...

Plants' uptake and metabolism of cyanide in response to changes in temperature was investigated. Pre-rooted weeping willows (Salix babylonica L.) were exposed to hydroponic solution spiked with potassium cyanide for 2-3 d. Ten different temperatures were used, ranging from 11 degrees C to 32 degrees C. Cyanide in water, plant tissue, and air was analyzed spectrophotometrically. The results reve...

1. Neurospora crassa was found to contain two distinct superoxide dismutases. 2. Most of the activity is associated with the cytosolic fraction and was shown to be the Cu/Zn-containing form of the protein. 3. Mitochondria isolated from Neurospora crassa showed two distinct superoxide dismutases: a cyanide-sensitive Cu/Zn-containing protein and a cyanide-insensitive form which probably contains ...