1 We report on a patient who was resuscitated after a suicide attempt with the veterinary euthanasia pro duct T-61 and treated with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to prevent hepatotoxicity from N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), the solvent of T-61.
2 Serum concentrations of DMF were high as compared with values published on occupational exposure.
3 The patient showed only a transient increase in liver enzymes with eventually a full recovery.
4 The hepatoprotective effect of NAC was studied in a rat model using the rise in serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) as a marker for DMF-induced hepatotoxicity.
5 Four series of randomized, controlled and double- blind experiments were carried out and consistently showed a lower increase in SDH in NAC-treated animals in each series. The difference was statistically significant only when the data of the 4 series were pooled. This is probably due to the large interindivi dual variations in the effect of DMF.
6 We hypothesize that in the rat NAC may have a protective effect. Whether NAC is also protective in patients, in which it is administered after exposure to DMF, cannot be concluded from the present experi ments.
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