THE EFFECT OF DITHIOBIURET (DTB) ON THE ELECTROLYTE AND WATER CONTENT OF SKELETAL MUSCLE, AND ON CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM

¹ Department of Biochemistry, Long Island College of Medicine, Brooklyn, and the Wyeth Institute of Applied Biochemistry, Philadelphia

1. The administration of DTB to rabbits in amounts of 7, 40, and 100 mg. per kilogram body weight (and to rats in an amount of 0.002% in the drinking water as observed by Astwood, et al.) produced a flaccid and fatal paralysis in from 1 to 12 days, depending on the administered dose.

2. The paralysis produced by the daily administration of 7 mg. DTB per kilogram to rabbits and as a 0.002% solution in the drinking water of rats was unaccompanied by any significant changes in the water, chloride, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and creatine content of skeletal muscle, and in the few cases studied, in the plasma CO2 content, calcium, sodium, and potassium levels.

3. The continued administration of DTB to rabbits in an amount of 7 and 40 mg. per kilogram occasionally produced a slight elevation in the blood glucose. When administered at a dosage of 7 mg. per kilogram, DTB had no apparent effect on the rate of removal of injected glucose from the blood, as measured by the intravenous glucose tolerance test.

4. The administration of a single dose of DTB to rabbits in an amount of 100 mg. per kilogram produced an immediate and profound increase in the blood glucose level which was maintained over a period of 5 hours.

The effects on carbohydrate metabolism and the paralysis accompanying the administration of DTB were not apparently mutually dependent.

5. The effects on carbohydrate metabolism of DTB may be non-specific effects mediated by epinephrine, particularly in view of the fact that the specific glandular changes associated with alarming stimuli have been observed in DTB-treated animals.