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Hepatotoxicity of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) in acute poisoning with the veterinary euthanasia drug T-61Department of Emergency Medicine; University Hospital Gent
Department of Emergency Medicine; University Hospital Gent
Department of Emergency Medicine; University Hospital Gent
Department of Clinical Biochemistry; University Hospital Gent
Heymans Institute of Pharmacology; University Hospital Gent
Department of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Gent, Belgium
Heymans Institute of Pharmacology; University Hospital Gent
Heymans Institute of Pharmacology; University Hospital Gent 1 We report on a patient who was resuscitated after a suicide attempt with the veterinary euthanasia pro duct T-61 and treated with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to prevent hepatotoxicity from N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), the solvent of T-61. 2 Serum concentrations of DMF were high as compared with values published on occupational exposure. 3 The patient showed only a transient increase in liver enzymes with eventually a full recovery. 4 The hepatoprotective effect of NAC was studied in a rat model using the rise in serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) as a marker for DMF-induced hepatotoxicity. 5 Four series of randomized, controlled and double- blind experiments were carried out and consistently showed a lower increase in SDH in NAC-treated animals in each series. The difference was statistically significant only when the data of the 4 series were pooled. This is probably due to the large interindivi dual variations in the effect of DMF. 6 We hypothesize that in the rat NAC may have a protective effect. Whether NAC is also protective in patients, in which it is administered after exposure to DMF, cannot be concluded from the present experi ments.
Key Words: N,N-dimethylformamide hepatotoxicity human rat N-acetylcysteine
Human & Experimental Toxicology, Vol. 15, No. 8,
607-611 (1996) |
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