TRITURUS TOXIN : CHEMICAL NATURE AND EFFECTS ON TISSUE RESPIRATION AND GLYCOLYSIS

¹ Schools of Biology and of Medicine, Stanford University, California

The most active toxin preparation obtained had a potency of 64,000 mouse units (m.u.) per gram of organic material. Most of the nitrogen in this preparation was probably contained in inactive amino-acids, and the activity as calculated on the basis of the remaining nitrogenous material was between 1 and 2 million m.u. per gram.

The effect of the toxin on respiration and glycolysis in certain organs of the rat was investigated. Oxygen consumption of liver slices appeared to be slightly and temporarily increased in the presence of 85 m.u. of toxin per ml. Similar effects were observed on the respiration of kidney and brain slices with a toxin concentration of 850 m.u. per ml. However, control studies with inactivated toxin makes it questionable whether these changes were attributable to the toxin per se.

Anaerobic glycolysis in rat brain slices was progressively inhibited with higher concentrations of the toxin preparation. However, this effect was obtained only with concentrations far higher than those required to kill a two-kilogram cat in one minute.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. S. Mosher, F. A. Fuhrman, H. D. Buchwald, and H. G. Fischer Tarichatoxin-Tetrodotoxin: A Potent Neurotoxin Science, May 29, 1964; 144(3622): 1100 - 1110. [PDF]

				M. S. Brown and H. S. Mosher Tarichatoxin: Isolation and Purification Science, April 19, 1963; 140(3564): 295 - 296. [Abstract] [PDF]