Structural Requirements of Nitrogenous Substances Which Have Protective Effects Against Acute Hydrazine Toxicity in Mice. ∗

Abstract

Summary

A continuation of previous studies on the protective effects of various substances against acute hydrazine toxicity in mice has revealed several interesting structural features which are consistent with the provisional interpretation that the protective actions of L-arginine and L-ornithine can be attributable, at most, only in part to their roles in ammonia detoxication via urea biosynthesis in liver. That the protection against lethality which they afford also must have another basis is suggested by the finding that citrulline exerted no protective action, while α,γ-diaminobutyric and α,γ-diaminopropionic acids and several diamines did. Likewise, α,γ-diaminobutyric, which was more effective against hydrazine than arginine or ornithine, gave no protection against ammonia poisoning under the same condition under which the latter substances showed their typical effects. The experiments indicate that for an aliphatic amine to have a protective action it must have at least 2 amino groups, and that for a diamino-monocarboxylic acid to be protective the amino groups must be separated at the most by 4-carbon atoms.