Neurochemical effects of ingested hydroxylamine.

Hydroxylamine chloride (0.3 g/l) in drinking water was given to 3-mo-old male Wistar rats for 1 to 63 days. The treatment caused splenomegalia while no effect was noted on the weight gain. Cerebral RNA content was also unaffected whereas slight decrease in the cerebral homogenate and isolated glial cell succinate dehydrogenase activities was found. Creatine kinase activity in the glial cell fractions increased after 63 days. An initial increase in the muscle acetylcholinesterase activity resolved in muscle after 2 wks while increased muscle creatine kinase activity was found throughout the experiment. The splenomegalia might have been caused by methemoglobinemic red cell fragility, an established NH2OH effect, while the neurochemical effects and effects on muscle might have resulted from direct toxicity rather than from the relative hypoxia because of impaired oxygen transport capacity.