Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39375309›Full record

ArticleJournal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology2025

Cyanide Medical Countermeasure Development: Assessing the Efficacy of Intramuscular Sodium Tetrathionate for the Treatment of Acute, Severe Cyanide Toxicity in Swine (Sus scrofa).

Patrick C Ng, R Madelaine Paredes, Allyson A Mireles, Tara Hendry-Hofer, Vikhyat S Bebarta, Gerry R Boss, Jae-Hyek Choi, Col Joseph K Maddry

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Patrick C NgDepartment of Emergency Medicine, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA. ngp@uthscsa.edu.ORCID 0000-0001-7573-9713
R Madelaine ParedesDepartment of Emergency Medicine, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Allyson A Mireles59th Medical Wing, En Route Care Research Center, Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Tara Hendry-HoferDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
Vikhyat S BebartaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
Gerry R BossDepartment of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Jae-Hyek ChoiDepartment of Emergency Medicine, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Col Joseph K Maddry59th Medical Wing, Clinical Resuscitation, Emergency Science, Triage and Toxicology (CRESTT), Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX, USA.

Funding

DHA Restoral DHA Restoral
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionGiven its availability and lethality, cyanide has potential for weaponization and thus has the attention of several governmental agencies. In large scale exposure scenarios, an effective countermeasure that can be administered quickly and in low volume intramuscularly may prove valuable because IV medications may have limited practical applications in these situations. Sodium tetrathionate, a potential cyanide antidote, is a compound that provides sulfur to rhodanese, the enzyme that detoxifies cyanide endogenously. Additionally, sodium tetrathionate has been reported to directly react with cyanide and is effective when administered intramuscularly. In this study, we assess the efficacy of sodium tetrathionate, when administered intramuscularly for the treatment of acute, oral cyanide poisoning in swine.

methodsWe conducted a prospective trial approved by the 59th Medical Wing Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee comparing intramuscular sodium tetrathionate (n=6) to no treatment control (n=4) in animals (Sus scrofa) exposed to a lethal dose of oral potassium cyanide. Survival at 120 minutes was the primary outcome. Lactate, a cyanide toxicity biomarker, was measured. At the study end, all animals were euthanized in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act and the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care. Survival between groups was summarized using a Kaplan-Meier survival curve after comparing survival by log-rank, Mantel-Cox analysis. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of other variables between groups.

resultsAt baseline animals were similar. There was 100% survival in the treatment group and 0% survival in the control group (P=0.0011). Serum lactate significantly increased in the control group (control: 5±0.9 vs. treatment: 2.1 ± 0.5 mmol/L at 20 minutes).

conclusionSodium tetrathionate (intramuscular) significantly improved survival in a large, swine model of acute, oral cyanide poisoning. Future studies will be directed at further assessing sodium tetrathionate as a potential medical countermeasure for cyanide poisoning.

Indexed as

AntidotesCyanidesAnimalsFemaleInjections, IntramuscularMaleProspective StudiesSus scrofaSwineAntidotesCyanidesAntidoteCountermeasureCyanideMass casualtyMedical countermeasure

Identifiers

PMID39375309
PMCPMC11706812

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.