Plasma and urine amino acid changes in rats treated with hypoglycin.

Hypoglycin A is a toxin which causes Jamaican vomiting sickness. In rats treated with this compound, we observed significant increases in a number of amino acids in the plasma and the urine, and detected several unidentified amino compounds in the urine. These changes suggest that hypoglycin, in addition to its known inhibitory effect on acyl-CoA dehydrogenases interferes with some steps in nitrogen metabolism as well. The amino acid abnormalities seen in hypoglycin-treated rats are compared with those seen in Reye's syndrome.