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The effect of three products of cigarette smoke (cyanide, thiocyanate and nicotine) on the concentration-response curves of 5-hydroxytryptamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine in the isolated human umbilical veins and arteries.

The effect of cyanide (10(-7) M), thiocyanate (10(-4) M) and nicotine (10(-7) M) on the concentration-response curves of 5-hydroxytryptamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine were investigated in human isolated umbilical arteries and veins. Cyanide significantly affected the responses of arterial strips to 5-hydroxytryptamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine: It caused significant leftward shifts of the 5-hydroxytryptamine concentration-response curves and significantly potentiated the contractile effects of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the case of norepinephrine, and epinephrine concentration reached 10(-6) and 10(-7) M respectively in the bath medium. Cyanide did not show any significant effect on the concentration-response curves of 5-hydroxytryptamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine in veins. Nicotine interacted with the response of adrenergic agonists both in arteries and veins; in arteries it potentiates the contractile response of epinephrine; in veins, it inhibited the dilatory responses of norepinephrine and potentiated the contractile effect of high concentration of epinephrine (10(-6) M). Thiocyanate did not cause any difference on any cumulative concentration-response curves either on the vessels. However, none of these individual effects of cyanide and nicotine were observed when the cyanide, thiocyanate and nicotine were added in combination in the isolated organ bath medium.

Biogenic Monoamines↗

Estimation of the convulsive effect of cyanide in rats.

Convulsions are frequently observed in severe, acute cyanide intoxication. The mechanisms involved are not well known. In the present study, the convulsive effect of cyanide was examined in the rat by means of a dose threshold determination after infusion of cyanide. An optimal dose rate of 1.80 mg/min./kg was determined. By infusing this optimal dose rate it was possible to divide another cyanide-treated group of rats into two groups: one without and another with convulsions. After the experiment all animals were killed by exposure to high intensity microwave irradiation. Regional dopamine, noradrenaline and main dopamine metabolites were isolated and analyzed using high pressure liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection. Striatal noradrenaline was decreased but dopamine and its metabolites were increased in rats infused with cyanide at the optimal dose rate until the convulsions started. Animals infused with the threshold dose at the optimal dose rate did not show any significant changes in noradrenaline or in dopamine metabolites, but all animals showing convulsions also had increased striatal dopamine levels. Thus changes in dopamine appear to be dependent on convulsions.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗

Cyanide production by Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Of 200 water isolates screened, five strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens and one strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were cyanogenic. Maximum cyanogenesis by two strains of P. fluorescens in a defined growth medium occurred at 25 to 30 degrees C over a pH range of 6.6 to 8.9. Cyanide production per cell was optimum at 300 mM phosphate. A linear relationship was observed between cyanogenesis and the log of iron concentration over a range of 3 to 300 microM. The maximum rate of cyanide production occurred during the transition from exponential to stationary growth phase. Radioactive tracer experiments with [1-14C]glycine and [2-14C]glycine demonstrated that the cyanide carbon originates from the number 2 carbon of glycine for both P. fluorescens and P. aeruginosa. Cyanide production was not observed in raw industrial wastewater or in sterile wastewater inoculated with pure cultures of cyanogenic Pseudomonas strains. Cyanide was produced when wastewater was amended by the addition of components of the defined growth medium.

Cyanides↗

Anaerobic biodegradation of cyanide under methanogenic conditions.

Upflow, anaerobic, fixed-bed, activated charcoal biotreatment columns capable of operating at free cyanide concentrations of greater than 100 mg liter-1 with a hydraulic retention time of less than 48 h were developed. Methanogenesis was maintained under a variety of feed medium conditions which included ethanol, phenol, or methanol as the primary reduced carbon source. Under optimal conditions, greater than 70% of the inflow free cyanide was removed in the first 30% of the column height. Strongly complexed cyanides were resistant to removal. Ammonia was the nitrogen end product of cyanide transformation. In cell material removed from the charcoal columns, [14C]bicarbonate was the major carbon end product of [14C]cyanide transformation.

Anaerobiosis↗

Utilization of cyanide as nitrogenous substrate by Pseudomonas fluorescens NCIMB 11764: evidence for multiple pathways of metabolic conversion.

The growth of Pseudomonas fluorescens NCIMB 11764 on cyanide as the sole nitrogen source was accomplished by use of a modified fed-batch cultivation procedure. Previous studies showing that cyanide metabolism in this organism is both an oxygen-dependent and an inducible process, with CO2 and ammonia representing conversion products, were confirmed. However, washed cells (40 mg ml-1 [dry weight]) metabolized cyanide at concentrations far exceeding those previously described; 85% of 50 mM KCN was degraded in 6 h. In addition, two other C1 metabolites were detected in incubation mixtures; their identities were confirmed as formamide and formate by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectrocopy, high-pressure liquid chromatography, radioisotopic trapping experiments, and other analytical means. The relative yields of all four metabolites (CO2, formamide, formate, and ammonia) were shown to be dependent on the KCN concentration and availability of oxygen; at 0.5 to 10 mM substrate, CO2 was the major C1 product, whereas at 20 and 50 mM substrate, formamide and formate were principally formed. The latter two metabolites also accumulated during prolonged anaerobic incubation, suggesting that P. fluorescens NCIMB 11764 can elaborate several pathways of cyanide conversion. One is formally similar to that proposed previously (R. E. Harris and C. J. Knowles, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 20:337-341, 1983), involving the oxygen-dependent conversion of cyanide to CO2 and ammonia. The other two, occurring in the presence or absence of oxygen, involve separate reactions to yield, respectively, formate plus ammonia or formamide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Ammonia↗

Cyanide formation from oxidation of glycine of Pseudomonas species.

With whole cells of a hydrogen cyanide-producing bacterium strain C, of the genus Pseudomonas, it was found that the oxygen necessary for the oxidation of glycine to cyanide could be replaced by various artificial electron acceptors. The order of reactivity was: oxygen > phenazine methosulphate > methylene blue > 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol > ferricyanide. Cyanide production was inhibited by pyrrolnitrin, a well-known inhibitor of many flavine enzymes. The molar ratio of added glycine to cyanide produced was found to be 1.09. With whole bacteria the apparent K(m) (glycine) for the cyanide production was found to be 5.0 x 10(-4) M.

Acridines↗

The transcriptional regulator AlgR controls cyanide production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. One characteristic of P. aeruginosa CF isolates is the overproduction of the exopolysaccharide alginate, controlled by AlgR. Transcriptional profiling analyses comparing mucoid P. aeruginosa strains to their isogenic algR deletion strains showed that the transcription of cyanide-synthesizing genes (hcnAB) was approximately 3-fold lower in the algR mutants. S1 nuclease protection assays corroborated these findings, indicating that AlgR activates hcnA transcription in mucoid P. aeruginosa. Quantification of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) production from laboratory isolates revealed that mucoid laboratory strains made sevenfold more HCN than their nonmucoid parental strains. In addition, comparison of laboratory and clinically derived nonmucoid strains revealed that HCN was fivefold higher in the nonmucoid CF isolates. Moreover, the average amount of cyanide produced by mucoid clinical isolates was 4.7 +/- 0.85 micromol of HCN/mg of protein versus 2.4 +/- 0.40 micromol of HCN/mg of protein for nonmucoid strains from a survey conducted with 41 P. aeruginosa CF isolates from 24 patients. Our data indicate that (i) mucoid P. aeruginosa regardless of their origin (laboratory or clinically derived) produce more cyanide than their nonmucoid counterparts, (ii) AlgR regulates HCN production in P. aeruginosa, and (iii) P. aeruginosa CF isolates are more hypercyanogenic than nonmucoid laboratory strains. Taken together, cyanide production may be a relevant virulence factor in CF lung disease, the production of which is regulated, in part, by AlgR.

Bacterial Proteins↗

The cyanide poisoning necropsy: an appraisal of risk factors.

Blood cyanide concentrations were measured in samples obtained from a pathologist before and after carrying out a necropsy on the body of a victim of cyanide poisoning. There was no significant increase in his blood cyanide concentration after carrying out the procedure. It is suggested that an important factor in determining the risk to those carrying out necropsies of the bodies of victims of cyanide poisoning is the amount of cyanide remaining in the stomach. There are several ways in which the theoretical risk inherent in carrying out such necropsies could be reduced, such as the use of a full face respirator, or the removal, intact, of the upper gastrointestinal tract to a fume cupboard for examination.

Adult↗

Hydrogen cyanide production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa at reduced oxygen levels.

Hydrogen cyanide production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa growing in a synthetic medium required aerobosis but operated efficiently at low dissolved oxygen concentration. Half maximum levels of cyanogenesis occurred at 0.015 microM oxygen; maximum cyanogenesis occurred over a wide range, 0.1-180 microM, of oxygen concentrations. These cells lost the ability to produce cyanide upon aerobic incubation in the absence of both the carbon energy source (L-glutamate) and the metabolic precursor of hydrogen cyanide (glycine). This loss of cyanogenesis was dependent on oxygen concentration; 1.0 microM oxygen produced no detectable loss, whereas 180 microM oxygen caused a rapid decline in cyanogenic ability. The endogenous cyanide production rate of cells in the presence of carbon energy source was not significantly influenced by oxygen concentration. During the batch culture cycle, the acquisition of the ability to produce HCN was preceded by oxygen reduction to growth-limiting levels. Cells which had lost the ability to produce hydrogen cyanide by oxygen treatment required protein synthesis before they could again become cyanogenic.

Glycine↗

Phospholipid metabolism and intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis in cultured rat hepatocytes intoxicated with cyanide.

The killing of cultured hepatocytes by 1 mM sodium cyanide was reduced by 100 microM chlorpromazine or cytochalasin B (25 micrograms/ml) or by lowering the pH of the culture medium to 6.0. In each case, ATP was depleted despite the decreased number of dead cells. The cell killing by cyanide was accompanied by an accelerated release of 3H-labeled arachidonate from phospholipids. Depletion of ATP by oligomycin did not accelerate phospholipid degradation or kill the hepatocytes. Chlorpromazine, cytochalasin B, and extracellular acidosis reduced the rate of phospholipid degradation in control cells as well as the increase that occurred with cyanide. The calcium ionophore A23187 increased phospholipid degradation and killed the hepatocytes. Chlorpromazine and extracellular acidosis, but not cytochalasin B, protected the cells and prevented the increased lipid degradation in response to A23187. After addition of cyanide, cytosolic free calcium ([Ca2+]i) did not change for 71 +/- 8 min, at which time it rose to a plateau of 683 +/- 210 nM within 10 min. A second and larger rise occurred after 84 +/- 8 min and before the death of the cells at 89 +/- 8 min. Treatment with 3.5 mM ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, as well as removal of extracellular calcium, prevented these late increases in [Ca2+]i without affecting the loss of viability. It is concluded that cyanide kills cultured hepatocytes by a mechanisms that is likely related to an accelerated degradation of phospholipids. This change in lipid metabolism is not mediated by a rise in [Ca2+]i but rather may relate to an alteration in the interaction between the cytoskeleton and the plasma membrane.

Acidosis↗

Effect of cyanide on renal metabolic rate and glomerulotubular balance.

Measurements of anesthetized dogs by the heat-accumulation technique showed that cyanide reduced equally the metabolic rates of outer medulla and cortex, whereas combined infusion of ethacrynic acid and chlorothiazide reduced mainly the metabolic rate of the outer medulla. During ethacrynic acid and chlorothiazide infusion, cyanide reduced the remaining sodium reabsorption by an average of 19% and the remaining cortical metabolic rate by 43%, but had no additional effect on the outer medullary metabolism. Metabolic rates remained essentially constant when glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was raised during cyanide infusion from 63 plus or minus 3 to 135 plus or minus 7% of control by carotid constriction or intravenous infusion of angiotensin. Glomerulotubular balance, defined as proportional relationship between sodium reabsorption and GFR during infusion of ethacrynic acid and chlorothiazide, was present only at GFR less than 80% of control in experiments with and without cyanide infusion. We conclude that cyanide inhibits proximal energy-requiring sodium transport which cannot be inhibited by ethacrynic acid and chlorothiazide, but does not alter the range of GFR over which glomerulotubular balance applies.

Angiotensin II↗

Cyanide excites medullary sympathoexcitatory neurons in rats.

Microinjections of cyanide (300 pmol) into the cardiovascular portion of the rostral ventrolateral reticular nucleus (RVL) of anesthetized rats (paralyzed and ventilated) produced a pressor response (26.5 +/- 1.6 mmHg, n = 7) and a transient depression of phrenic nerve discharge (90 +/- 8%, n = 5). Microiontophoretic applications of cyanide (less than or equal to 100 nA, 5-40 s) excited the RVL-spinal sympathoexcitatory neurons (31 out of 31). The response was dose dependent, reversible, independent of the baroreflex input to these neurons, and different from the responses of units with spontaneous discharge synchronized with the lung inflation or with unidentified function. The cyanide-induced excitation of the RVL-spinal sympathoexcitatory neurons was reversibly abolished by CO2+, applied iontophoretically at a dose at which the baroreflex inhibition of these neurons was not markedly affected whereas iontophoretic applications of kynurenic acid, a glutamate receptor antagonist, did not alter the response of the RVL-spinal sympathoexcitatory neurons to cyanide. It was concluded that cyanide induces a rapid Ca(2+)-dependent response of the RVL-spinal sympathoexcitatory neurons, which may underlie the cellular mechanism of these neurons in responding to ischemia-hypoxia.

Animals↗

O2 and rat pulmonary artery tone: effects of endothelium, Ca2+, cyanide, and monocrotaline.

The present study examines the influence of the endothelium (E), Ca2+ concentration, cyanide and monocrotaline (MCT) pretreatment on the responses of isolated rat hilar pulmonary arterial rings (PA) to hypoxia. In PA precontracted with phenylephrine, hypoxia induced an initial E-dependent relaxation phase followed by an E-independent transient contraction and a final relaxation. An increase in Ca2+ concentration from 1.5 to 2.5 mM produced an E-dependent reduction in tone generation under O2 and a significant enhancement of the hypoxia-elicited initial relaxation and the transient contractile responses. Addition of cyanide (0.1 mM) to precontracted PA produced a transient contraction similar to that caused by hypoxia. Preincubation with cyanide led to inhibition of tone generation and abolition of the contraction to hypoxia. However, the final relaxation response to hypoxia was not inhibited by cyanide. Thus, hypoxia produces an E-independent contraction via a mechanism that appears also to be activated by cyanide, and this response is not altered by MCT. The endothelium alters the response to hypoxia in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner.

Acetylcholine↗

Early increase in K+ conductance during metabolic inhibition by cyanide in guinea pig ventricular myocytes.

The underlying mechanism of the early increase in K+ conductance during metabolic inhibition was examined by the whole-cell patch clamp technique. To inhibit oxidative phosphorylation, cyanide (0.1-1.0 mM) was superfused to enzymatically isolated guinea pig ventricular myocytes. The increase in the outward K+ current during the metabolic inhibition consisted of at least two components; one was a gradual and small increase which appeared within 5 min, and the other was a subsequent sudden and large increase occurring 17.8 min on average after cyanide application at a concentration of 0.1 mM. The earlier component of the cyanide-sensitive current was examined by the square pulse method. The current had a reversal potential of -76.0 mV and an inward-rectifying property. When cyanide (0.1 mM) was applied for 10-12 min, the chord conductance of the inward rectifier K+ current (IK1) was significantly increased and its voltage relation was shifted to hyperpolarizing direction (-2.3 mV). The cyanide could not induce an outward current in K(+)-free ionic condition or in the presence of extracellular Ba2+ (2 mM), a blocker of the IK1. However, the outward current even appeared in the presence of 5 mM ATP in the perfused solution in pipette, while it attenuated when intracellular pH was buffered with 50 mM HEPES in the pipette solution. These observations suggest that the early increase in K+ conductance during the metabolic inhibition is due to the augmented IK1 conductance and not due to the induction of ATP-sensitive K+ current. The increase in the K+ conductance may be caused by the intracellular pH change, probably through intracellular metabolic acidosis by the inhibited oxidative phosphorylation.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Bioavailability of iron and cyanide from 59Fe- and 14C-labelled hexacyanoferrates(II) in rats.

"Soluble" (KFe(III)[Fe(II)(CN)6]) and "insoluble Prussian blue" (Fe(III)4[Fe(II)(CN)6]3 labelled with 59Fe either in the ferric (Fe(III)) or ferro (Fe(II)) position and 14C in the cyanide group were synthesized and administered intraperitoneally or orally to adult female rats with normal body iron stores. Following i.p. injection of KFe[Fe(CN)6], the colloidal complex is disintegrated into ferric iron and hexacyanoferrate(II) anion almost completely. About 96% of the ferric iron was retained in the body. Nearly 90% of both ferrous iron and cyanide were excreted with the urine within 7 days after i.p. injection, indicating that most of the undissociated hexacyanoferrate(II) anion ([Fe(CN)6]4-) was excreted through the kidney. Only 9% of the ferrous iron from [Fe(CN)6]4- was found mainly in carcass, liver and gut. As the 59Fe/14C-ratios in organs were found close to 1.0, the dissociation of the hexacyanoferrate(II) anion can only be small in vivo. No detectable 14CO2-activity (less than 0.01%) was monitored in the breath of rats after i.p. injection of the 14C-labelled KFe[Fe(CN)6], also indicating that no significant amounts of cyanide were released after parenteral administration. After oral administration of the soluble and insoluble Prussian blue, 0.3-0.7% of the ferric iron was absorbed and retained mainly in carcass, liver and blood. Only 0.06-0.18% of the ferrous iron was absorbed and mostly excreted with the urine (0.05-0.15%), so that only 0.01-0.03% of the oral ferrous 59Fe was retained in the body after 7-10 days. Very small fractions of 14C-label from the 14CN-group of the soluble and insoluble hexacyanoferrate(II) were observed in the exhaled air (0.04-0.08% of the oral dose). From the 14CO2-exhalation, the 14C-urine excretion and the distribution of iron in blood and organs it can be concluded that the hexacyanoferrate(II) moiety disintegrated only to a small extent in the intestinal tract after oral administration. From a dose of 36 mg hexacyanoferrate(II)/kg, an amount of free (non-complex bound) cyanide can be calculated which is in maximum two orders of magnitude below the LD100-level. Thus, the very low bioavailability of iron and cyanide from hexacyanoferrate(II) compounds after oral application is demonstrated in rats. In the case of a severe nuclear accident, appropriate doses of "soluble" and "insoluble" Prussian blue can be used as safe and effective antidote against radiocaesium contamination.

Animals↗

In vitro production of cyanide in normal human blood and the influence of thiocyanate and storage temperature.

Normal human blood stored at room temperature (about 20 degrees C) may, over a period of weeks, undergo a slow transformation of its cyanide content. In contrast, when normal blood is stored at -20 degrees C there is formation of cyanide, usually occurring most rapidly during the first few days of storage. Peak concentrations are never greater than 20 microgram/100 ml, and although some fluctuation in concentration occurs over several months of storage at deep freeze temperature, levels are always higher than in the freshly drawn blood. The amount of cyanide produced appears to be a function of both the initial thiocyanate concentration and the freezing and/or thawing of blood. Blood stored at refrigerator temperature (about 4 degrees C) has the least fluctuation in cyanide concentration over a storage period up to three months. During this study it was found that there is significant difference in whole blood cyanide concentration between smokers and nonsmokers.

Adult↗

Effects of moderate hypothermia on norepinephrine release evoked by ouabain, tyramine and cyanide.

Using the dialysis technique, we examined the effect of moderate hypothermia on the norepinephrine efflux evoked by ouabain, tyramine and cyanide in anesthetized cats. Dialysis probes were implanted in the left ventricular myocardium, and we measured the dialysate norepinephrine levels as an indicator of norepinephrine output at the cardiac sympathetic nerve endings. Through the dialysis probe, locally applied ouabain, tyramine and cyanide induced the norepinephrine efflux. The addition of desipramine (neuronal norepinephrine transport blocker, 100 microM) suppressed the norepinephrine efflux evoked by ouabain, tyramine and cyanide. This finding suggests that pharmacological agent-induced norepinephrine efflux was due to carrier-mediated outward norepinephrine transport. Moderate hypothermia (27.4 +/- 0.2 degrees C) caused suppression of the norepinephrine efflux evoked by ouabain, tyramine and cyanide. We conclude that moderate hypothermia suppresses the non-exocytotic norepinephrine release evoked by ouabain, tyramine and cyanide.

Animals↗

Sodium nitroprusside-induced cyanide intoxication and prevention with sodium thiosulfate prophylaxis.

Sodium nitroprusside is an antihypertensive agent used frequently in the critical care setting. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a report that led to a labeling change emphasizing the pharmacokinetics of nitroprusside with metabolism to highly toxic cyanide. Although evidence validates that cyanogenesis occurs with nitroprusside administration, prevention and treatment of cyanide poisoning is rarely instituted in clinical practice. Simultaneous infusion of thiosulfate with nitroprusside provides the sulfur donor necessary to prevent cyanide accumulation. Cyanide combines with thiosulfate to form the less toxic sodium thiocyanate, which is then excreted. A 10:1 ratio of nitroprusside to thiosulfate in the infusion eliminates the possibility of cyanide intoxication without altering the efficacy of nitroprusside.

Antidotes↗