Question Of The Day

What element has been implicated in the development of sideroblastic anemia with chronic ingestion?   Chronic zinc ingestion. Large quantities of zinc ingested chronically can lead to zinc-induced copper deficiency via inhibition of copper absorption. Copper is necessary for adequate iron utilization during erythropoeisis, therefore…

When reviewing older literature or reports from different countries sometimes there are differences in how laboratory date are reported. If glucose was reported as “ 2,42 g. 0/00 “, how would you convert this into mg/dL?   The ‰ notation is called permille or permil…

Two people were recently found guilty of murder by giving the decedent ‘devils breath’. What is the toxin?   Scopolamine. Sometimes referred to as “Columbian’s Devil’s Breath”, this drug has been used in Colombia during robbery attempts to incapacitate the victims. Link to latest news…

A family of 9 died after consuming a meal of noodles. What is the toxin?   Bongkrekic Acid. Bongkrekic acid (BKA) inhibits adenine nucleotide translocase and is a mitochondrial toxin. It is produced by the bacterium Burkholderia gladiolog pathovar cocovenenas. There are numerous cases in…

Which element helps reduce the risk of chronic arsenic toxicity?   Selenium. Smits and colleagues demonstrated low blood selenium increases the risk of arsenic-induced health problems through a randomized, double-blind, placebo-control trial in Bangladesh. Participants chronically exposed to arsenic were enrolled and separated into two…

Polymixin B is being studied currently to reduce renal and hepatic injury from this toxin?   In a recent animal study in rats, polymixin B +/- methlyprednisolone attenuated alpha-amanitin induced renal and hepatic necrosis. Garcia J et al. An effective antidotal combination of polymyxin B…

Green tea extract is in oral supplements and marketed for weight loss. What is a rare but significant toxicity of green tea extract?   Drug induced liver injury. The mechanism of the toxicity remains unclear. Molinari M et al. Acute Liver Failure Induced by Green…

This agent is being studied as an adjunct to NAC therapy for acetaminophen poisoning because of its ability to reduce oxidant stress?   Calmangafodipir reduces oxidative stress and therefore is postulated to potentially prevent acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity. In one open-label study, calmangafodipir, when combined with NAC,…

Identify this compound   Succimer https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/2724354

Identify this compound   BAL (British Anti-Lewisite), or Dimercaprol https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/3080#section=2D-Structure