The implications of consumption of dietary cyanide from gari were investigated by feeding trials on experimental rats (Rattus norwagicus) in this study. The biological assay technique was used to assess diets formulated from gari (fermented cassava product) processed for zero, 24, 48, 72h and control (corn starch) which contain varying amounts of residual cyanide (ranging from 111.6 – 18.6 mg H...

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) impairs mitochondrial respiration by potently inhibiting the heme-copper cytochrome c oxidase. Since many prokaryotes, including Escherichia (E.) coli, generate H2S and encounter high H2S levels particularly in the human gut, herein we tested whether bacteria can sustain sulfide-resistant O2-dependent respiration. E. coli has three respiratory oxidases, the cyanide-sensit...

During the first weeks of life, injury to the central nervous system caused by brief periods of oxygen deprivation greatly increases. To investigate possible causes for this change, the effects of hypoxia or application of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate on intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) and ATP were studied in rat cerebrocortical brain slices. [Ca2+]i was measured fluorometrically w...

Cyanide fishing is a method employed to capture marine fish alive on coral reefs. They are shipped to markets for human consumption in Southeast Asia, as well as to supply the marine aquarium trade worldwide. Although several techniques can be used to detect cyanide in reef fish, there is still no testing method that can be used to survey the whole supply chain. Most methods for cyanide detecti...

in order to detect hydrogen cyanide gene and to determine pseudomonas fluorescent efficiency in producing hydrogen cyanide for controlling the growth of rhizoctonia solanipathogen (the causal agent of sugar beet root and crown rot), samples were collected from sugar beet rhizosphere in sabzevar fields. after soil sampling and purification, 31 pseudomonas spp. isolates were separated on specific...

The maximum daily cassava flour intake of children may be calculated from determination of the total cyanide content of cassava flour and urinary thiocyanate levels of school children in samples collected at the same time and place. Four sites, two with and two without recent konzo cases, were chosen for study. In two sites with recent konzo cases, 84% and 93% of school children consumed cassav...

Rhodanese is the major detoxifying enzyme for cyanide and requires sulphur for its action. Allium cepa (Onion) is rich in organosulphur which may serve as an antidote for cyanide poisoning by supplying sulphur to the enzyme rhodanese. The possible effects of Allium cepa on rhodanese activity during cyanide toxicity was investigated in male Wistar rats. Sixty Wistar rats (150-180 g) were divided...

The detection of harmful chemicals and biological agents in real time is a critical need for protecting freshwater ecosystems. We studied the real-time effects of five environmental contaminants with differing modes of action (atrazine, cadmium chloride, pentachlorophenol, malathion, and potassium cyanide) on respiratory oxygen consumption in 2-day postfertilization fathead minnow (Pimephales p...