Acute cyanide intoxication and central transmitter systems.

In rats treated with sodium cyanide (5-20 mg/kg, ip) dopamine was dose dependently decreased in the striatum within 60 sec. One of the main metabolites of dopamine in the central nervous system, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (HVA), was decreased in striatum, olfactory tubercle, and hippocampus. However, the oxidatively deaminated metabolite, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), was not significantly altered in any of the brain regions studied. Naturally occurring levels of 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (L-dopa), as well as L-dopa accumulated after inhibition of the neuronal L-aromatic amino acid decarboxylase, increased in cyanide-treated rats. The dopamine receptor antagonist spiperone (0.05 mg/kg, ip) slightly increased the survival in acute cyanide intoxication. Sodium cyanide increased the levels of glutamine in frontal cortex and striatum at all doses studied. Glutamic acid was increased in the cerebellum, striatum, and hippocampus after sodium cyanide (5-10 mg/kg, ip). Higher doses decreased glutamic acid in the cerebellum, the frontal cortex, and the striatum. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations were diminished at high doses in all regions studied. Cyanide increased the levels of cyclic GMP in the cerebellum. In the striatum cyclic GMP was decreased after sodium cyanide (10 and 20 mg/kg). No significant alterations in the concentrations of acetylcholine or choline were seen in the striatum of cyanide-treated rats. The acetylcholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine and the muscarinic receptor antagonist atropine decreased the survival of mice given sodium cyanide. Acute cyanide intoxication thus produces rapid and fairly specific changes in central dopaminergic and GABA-ergic pathways.