Abstract
Summary
Poly-D L-lysine was administered intravenously to rats. Lethal doses of 1.5-2 mg per 100 g body weight caused a disturbance in thrombin formation, pulmonary and cardiac edema and death within 12 minutes. The high dose of 8 mg polylysine per 100 g body weight caused red cell agglutination and prolonged clotting time. Sublethal doses also caused a disturbance in thrombin formation, slight hemolysis and reticulocytosis, and transitory symptoms of respiratory distress. Heparin and synthetic poly-L-aspartic acid were antagonistic to polylysine and prevented death of polylysine-treated rats, hemolysis and coagulation disturbance. These effects in vivo corroborated the observations on the biological action of polylysine in vitro.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.