Posted by My second semester steam project is a drawing featuring a skull and crossbones, but the crossbones are a cyanide bottle and a useful treatment in the form of an oxygen canister. My project is based on the effects of the common toxin cyanide on the respiratory system. This ties into the unit 12 course objective: “Analyze the effects of disease on the function and structure of the respiratory system”.
Cyanide results in hypoxia, although a different type from lack of oxygen in the air or carbon monoxide poisoning. Histotoxic hypoxia is essentially asphyxiation of the cells due to some poison or drug. This is especially unfortunate because the asphyxiation will occur despite adequate or even plentiful oxygen.
Cyanide is commonly found in small doses in the body. There are many ways to ingest small amounts as the toxin is present in many fruit seeds and tobacco. However, these small amounts aren’t dangerous as our liver can quickly convert the toxin into the less deadly thiocyanate, after which it is excreted through urine. Cyanide can also be used by the body in small amounts to produce vitamin B12, usually available to us from B12 absorption in the stomach (New York State Department of Health, 2004).
In large doses cyanide is deadly unless treated. A fatal dose for ingestion is on average 1.52 mg / kg of bodyweight, although the lowest fatal dose was calculated to be just 0.52 mg / kg. It is for these deadly properties that cyanide has become famous as it has been used throughout history for chemical weapons, tools for mass suicide, and poisons (Graham and Taylor, 2023).
Cyanide works in the body as a metabolic poison, disrupting cellular respiration and ATP production. Specifically, cyanide disrupts the electron transport chain at the end of the cellular respiration process by binding to cytochrome C oxidase. In binding to this enzyme, cyanide prevents cytochrome C oxidase from doing its job and transporting the electron. Normally the electrons will travel along the chain producing ATP and pumping protons, which will eventually form more ATP, until leaving the chain to bind to oxygen. Due to cyanide this binding is not possible, and the oxygen is left useless (Graham and Taylor, 2023).
There are treatments for cyanide poisoning, however due to the nature of the condition it must be rendered extremely quickly. Symptoms can appear in minutes to hours depending on dosage, but even prompt treatment can still see the individual develop Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases.
Treatment commonly consists of an initial administration of 100% oxygen. Activated charcoal is also commonly used if ingestion occurred, as it can absorb 35 mg of cyanide for every 1 g of charcoal administered. The “first-line” antidote, however, is hydroxycobalamin. Hydroxycobalamin, usually used under the brand Cyanokit, reacts with cyanide to form harmless cyanocobalamin which is later excreted through urine. Cyanokit is preferable to alternative antidotes as it has much fewer and less harmful side effects (Graham and Taylor, 2023).
References
New York State Department of Health. (2004, September). The facts about cyanides. Ny.gov. https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/emergency/chemical_terrorism/cyanide_general.htm
Graham, J., & Traylor, J. (2023, February 13). Cyanide Toxicity. Nih.gov; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507796/
Unfiltered, S. (2017, September 23). The Science of Cyanide. SCIENCE UNFILTERED. https://phenomenex.blog/2017/09/22/cyanide-science/
HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESCRIBING INFORMATION. (n.d.). https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2006/022041lbl.pdf
