Toxicity of miserotoxin and its aglycone (3-nitropropanol) to rats.

The toxicity of miserotoxin (3-nitro-1-propyl-beta-D-glucoside) and its aglycone, NPOH, were compared in rats. Miserotoxin, a component of certain legumes, was relatively innocuous given orally (LD50 greater than 2.5 g/kg) but NPOH (LD50 = 77 mg/kg) was at least 10 times more toxic. Miserotoxin was readily absorbed from the upper regions of the digestive tract but the degree of gastrointestinal hydrolysis was small. The low toxicity of miserotoxin was attributed to a low level of microbial hydrolysis. NPA was not detected in the gastrointestinal tract during miserotoxin digestion. A simple method for isolating miserotoxin by column chromatography is described.