Amygdalin Toxicity Studies in Rats Predict Chronic Cyanide Poisoning in Humans

Significant amounts of cyanide are released when amygdalin (Laetrile), a cyanogenic glycoside, is given orally or intravenously to rats. The amount of cyanide liberated following oral administration is dependent in part on the bacterial flora of the gut and can be suppressed by antibiotic pretreatme...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Western journal of medicine 1981-02, Vol.134 (2), p.97-103
Main Authors: Newton, George W., Schmidt, Eric S., Lewis, Jerry P., Lawrence, Ruth, Conn, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amygdalin - metabolism
Amygdalin - toxicity
Animals
Cyanides - blood
Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
Female
Lethal Dose 50
Rats
Rats, Inbred F344
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Significant amounts of cyanide are released when amygdalin (Laetrile), a cyanogenic glycoside, is given orally or intravenously to rats. The amount of cyanide liberated following oral administration is dependent in part on the bacterial flora of the gut and can be suppressed by antibiotic pretreatment of the animals. Bacteria from human feces likewise hydrolyze amygdalin with release of cyanide. Humans taking amygdalin orally in the hope of preventing cancer are likely to be exposed to levels of cyanide in excess of that associated with the development of tropical ataxic neuropathy in people of underdeveloped countries where food containing cyanogenic glycosides is a staple part of the diet.
ISSN:0093-0415
1476-2978