Effects of sodium cyanide upon swimming performance in guinea-pigs and the conferment of protection by pretreatment with p-aminopropiophenone.

Abstract

The swimming performance of guinea-pigs was degraded following administration of sodium cyanide (NaCN) at doses which were not lethal for individual animals. Decrements in performance were observed two minutes following subcutaneous administration of NaCN, were maximal at 8-16 minutes and, at the highest dose tested, did not return to control levels until 64-128 minutes. Pretreatment with p-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) at a dose inducing 7-15% methemoglobinemia (met.Hb), 15-90 minutes after administration, protected animals against the effects of NaCN upon swimming performance. However, the protection decreased as the interval between PAPP and NaCN was increased from 15 to 75 minutes. These data suggested that NaCN may affect both motor and cognitive function in guinea-pigs. The relevance of this animal model for predicting the behavioural effects of cyanide poisoning for assessing the protective efficacy of pretreatment with PAPP in humans is discussed.