The use of sodium nitrite for deliberate self-harm, and the online suicide market: Should we care?

Sodium nitrite is a common household product with a variety of uses such as curing meat, food additive, colouring agent, anti-freezing agent and disinfectant. We report a case of sodium nitrite intoxication for deliberate self-harm and discuss the increasing number of such cases in recent times.

Effect of Subacute Intoxication with Nitrite on AMP-Deaminase Activity in Skeletal Muscles of Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)

This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of intoxication of common carp with nitrite on some properties of Adenosine 5´-monophosphate (AMP) deaminase in the skeletal muscle. LC50 value was determined to be 512 mg/L. After estimating the LC50, fish were exposed to 153 mg/L (30% LC50) and sampling was done at 0, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h after exposure. Cytosolic AMP deaminase was purified from the skeletal muscle of the control and experimental groups. AMP-deaminase showed Hill kinetics with an S0.5 value for AMP of 2.52±0.031 and 1.45±0.07 mM, a Hill coefficient (nH) of 1.35±0.051 and 1.79±0.60, and a maximal velocity (Vmax) of 133.39±28 and 98.9±38 IU/mg protein for the control and experimental groups, respectively after 96 h. The optimum pH was reduced during nitrite intoxication. The maximal activation of the enzyme was at 45ºC. Also, activation energy declined in the experimental groups. Fenton reaction showed that the enzyme was tolerant to free radicals. According to the results, AMP deaminase activity in the common carp’s muscles increased following nitrite intoxication. Also, acidic condition increased AMP deaminase activity that could be an adaptive response to hypoxic condition caused by nitrite intoxication.

Nitrate/nitrite poisoning in dairy cattle from the Midwestern Minas Gerais, Brazil

ABSTRACT: In a rural property of the Midwestern Minas Gerais, Brazil, three 2.5 to 3-year-old female bovines (7/8 Holstein x 1/8 Gir) weighing approximately 380kg died after showing brownish colored mucosa of conjunctiva and vaginal vestibule, gray-bluish tongue, dyspnea, sialorrhea, tympany, and progression to sternal decubitus and death. In the macroscopic evaluation of one of the bovines, dark (chocolate-colored) blood of difficult coagulation, and intensely cherry-red skeletal and cardiac musculature were observed. Beyond that were observed brownish lungs, kidneys, liver, and encephalon, and all the stomach compartments were dilated due to large amounts of gas. In addition, the carcass exhaled a nitrous odor. The diphenylamine test and the nitrate dosage in the forage (Pennisetum purpureum, “elephant grass”, Napier grass cultivar) used in feeding the bovines showed a high concentration of nitrate, allowing the diagnosis of nitrate/nitrite intoxication. The main factors leading to the poisoning were attributed to excessive fertilization of grass with bovine manure, the occurrence of a drought period followed by a rainy season, lack of adaptation of the bovines to a nitrate-rich diet, and a diet composed almost exclusively of elephant grass. This is the first report of spontaneous nitrate/nitrite poisoning in cattle in southeastern Brazil.

PARAMETERS OF FREE-RADICAL OXIDATION AND ANTIOXIDANT DEFENCE SYSTEM IN RATS OF BOTH SEXES WITH SODIUM NITRITE INTOXICATION

<p>Long-term influence of sodium nitrite on rats causes an increase in lipid peroxidation products in blood and myocardial tissue in animals of both sexes and is accompanied by a decrease in activity of enzymic and non-enzymic components of antioxidant defence system. Under the conditions of intoxication, the process of LPO is less aggressive in females in the comparison with males.</p>