Organ-distribution of the metabolite 2-aminothiazoline-4-carboxylic acid in a rat model following cyanide exposure

Abstract

The reaction of cyanide (CN⁻) with cystine to produce 2-aminothiazoline-4-carboxylic acid (ATCA) is one of the independent detoxification pathways of cyanide in biological systems. In this report, in vivo production of ATCA and its distributions in plasma and organs were studied after a subcutaneous sublethal dose of 4 mg/kg body weight potassium cyanide (KCN) administration to rats. At this sublethal dose of KCN, ATCA concentration was not significantly increased in the plasma samples, however, it was found significantly increased in liver samples. These results suggested that ATCA might not be a good diagnostic biomarker in plasma for sublethal cyanide exposure; however, liver could serve as the right organ for the detection of ATCA in post-mortem examinations involving cyanide exposure in military, firefighting, industrial and forensic settings.

Keywords::

• Diagnostic biomarker
• forensic biomarker
• cyanide poisoning
• 2-aminothiazoline-4-carboxylic acid (ATCA)
• LC-MS/MS

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful for the technical assistances of Galina Kuzmitcheva, Jessica Nasr, Phong Ngo and Kelsie Bryand.

Declaration of interest

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)/United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD) Interagency Agreements) [W911NF-07-D-0001] and the USAMRICD under the auspices of the US Army Research Office of Scientific Services Program administered by Battelle [Delivery order 0557, Contract No TCN 08284], and the Robert A. Welch Foundation at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX. Research supports form the Faculty Enhancement Grants for Research (EGR) from Sam Houston State University was greatly appreciated.