Effect of glucose treatment on carbohydrate content in various organs in mice after acute As2O3 poisoning.

Glucose treatment improved survival and symptoms in mice poisoned with As2O3. In order to get more insight into the mechanisms involved, postmortum changes in glucose and glycogen content of various organs and pathology were investigated in mice acutely poisoned with As2O3 and treated with glucose. Forty mice each received 12.9 mg As2O3/kg sc as a single injection. The first group of 10 mice had no further treatment. Fifteen minutes after the As2O3 injection and every 2 h thereafter, the second group (10 mice) received saline and the third group (10 mice) received 5% glucose ip. Groups 4 and 5 (5 mice each) received either saline or glucose only. The injection volume in all groups was 10 microliters/g mouse. Group 6 (5 mice) had no treatment whatsoever. Immediately after death brain, muscle and kidneys were prepared for the enzymatic determination of glucose and glycogen. Samples of the brain, muscle, kidneys, liver, small intestine, colon and spleen were taken for microscopic examination. Independent of the therapeutic procedure, decreases in the glycogen in livers and increases in fat in livers and muscles were observed in mice which died. All mice which died showed heavy leucocytes disruptions, increased fat, and decreased glycogen in the spleen. Intrafolliculary disruptions of leucocytes in the small intestine and colon, as well as patchy hyperemias and hemorrhagic spots in the papilla of the kidneys, were observed in non-survivor mice. Decreased glucose and glycogen was in the brains of non-survivor mice; no differences in glucose and glycogen were found in brains of the mice which survived.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)