Cyanide and Central Nervous System: A Study with Focus on Brain Dopamine

摘要

The brain is a major target site in acute cyanide intoxication, as indicated byseveral symptoms and signs. Cyanide inhibits the enzyme cytochrome oxidase. This inhibition causes impaired oxygen utilization in all cells affected, severe metabolic acidosis and inhibited production of energy. In the thesis, some neurotoxic effects of cyanide, in particular, the effects on dopaminergic pathways were studied. Increased striatal dopamine synthesis was observed in rats after cyanide treatment and in vitro. Furthermore, in rat, as well as in pig striatal tissue, cyanide dose-dependently increased the oxidative deamination of 5-HT (MAO-A) and DA (MAO-A and -B) but not that of PEA (MAO-B). Thus cyanide affects both the synthesis and metabolism of dopamine. Because of reported changes in intracellular calcium in cyanide-treated animals, the effects of cyanide on inositol phospholipid breakdown was studied. Cyanide seemed not to affect the inositol phospholipid breakdown in vitro. (Copyright (c) 1993 by Gudrun Cassel.)