MERCURIAL DIURETICS
- 1 April 1947
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of internal medicine (1960)
- Vol. 79 (4) , 449-456
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1947.00220100099006
Abstract
ACUTE toxicity of mercurial diuretics has been noted frequently, but no extensive investigation of substances to counteract this toxicity has been reported.1 There are two apparently distinct immediate reactions in human beings—a nonfatal hypersensitivity2 and a fatal cardiac reaction. Experiments in animals1a and observations in human beings1c have determined that death is caused by ventricular fibrillation. Ascorbic acid has been used to detoxify chemotherapeutic heavy metals, especially arsenic.3 It is an effective physiologic reducing agent. Certain animals, including dogs, can synthesize ascorbic acid and are therefore suitable experimental animals. We have extended the investigation of the mechanism of immediate death in dogs from mercurial diuretics for the three commonly employed ones, mercurophylline injection, mersalyl and theophylline and mercuhydrin. We have also studied the possible detoxifying effect of ascorbic acid on these preparations. The addition of another substance to a mercurial diuretic in an effort toThis publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Toxic reactions to the intravenous injection of mercurial diureticsAmerican Heart Journal, 1944
- THE ACUTE TOXICITY OF MERCURIAL DIURETICSJAMA, 1942