ニトログリコール中毒の実験的研究

抄録

It is still obscure why the workers exposed to nitroglycol suffer from a heart attack on Monday morning. As a preliminary study on the mechanism of nitroglycol poisoning, the authors carried out the experimental studies on the subacute toxicity of nitroglycol in animals. 1. Subcutaneous LD₅₀ of nitroglycol in mice was 869.4 mg/kg. 2. Ten male rabbits received daily subcutaneous injections of nitroglycol at about 300 mg/kg. All animals died within 9 days. Development of severe anemia with Heinz bodies of 70% and reticulocytes of 20% has been found in these rabbits. In other three rabbits copper sulphate (1mg of copper/kg) was injected at the same time with nitroglycol subcutaneously. Hematological findings of these rabbits were not different from those of the animals treated with nitroglycol only. 3. Two groups of mice, thirty males each, received daily subcutaneous injections of nitroglycol at 100 and 400 mg/kg respectively for 16 days, and the animals were sacrificed at 2, 4, 6, 9, 13 and 16th days. No significant anemia was noted in both groups. Appearance of Heinz bodies in erythrocytes of mice treated with 400 mg/kg of nitroglycol was about 60%, but that in mice with 100 mg/kg was scarce. Relative weights of liver and spleen to body weight of mice treated with 400 mg/kg of nitroglycol increased gradually with injections, but in the mice treated with 100 mg/kg only the spleen gained the weight slightly with injections. Weights of other organs showed a change (increase or decrease) temporarily at an early stage, but these recovered to the normal values during further successive administrations of nitroglycol. From these results, it may be said that daily subcutaneous injections of 100 mg/kg of nitroglycol for 16 days are tolerated by mice. 4. Total copper and ceruloplasmin levels in the plasma of mice and rabbits treated with nitroglycol increased at an early stage, but these returned gradually to the normal values in spite of daily injections of nitroglycol.