PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - F. N. Craig
AU  - P. D. Bales
AU  - H. M. Frankel
TI  - LETHALITY OF SAHIN IN A WARM ENVIRONMENT
DP  - 1959 Sep 01
TA  - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
PG  - 35--38
VI  - 127
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/127/1/35.short
4100  - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/127/1/35.full
SO  - J Pharmacol Exp Ther1959 Sep 01; 127
AB  - Rhesus monkeys were given isopropyl methyl phosphonofluoridate (sarin) by intramuscular injection (0.03 mg/kg) or by exposure of the body, not including the head, to an average vapor concentration of 115 mg/cubic meter for 30 minutes, while in a room at either 25°C or 38°C. Within 4 hours of exposure at these temperatures after the beginning of sarin admninistration, 4 out of 5 monkeys died at 38°C with each method of sarin administration; at 25° C 1 out of 5 died after injection and none out of 5 after body exposure to vapor. Of the animals for which adequate data were obtained, the erythrocyte chlolinesterase activity was inhibited within 10 minutes to 30% or less of the initial activity in 7 animals that died and 2 that survived; in the other 8 survivors, the activity remained above 30% at 10 minutes. The increased lethality at 38°C may be due less to greater penetration of the skin than to a more rapid entry of sarin into the blood stream. The rectal temperature fell at 25°C and rose at 38 °C during sarin intoxication, suggesting that a late impairment of peripheral circulation also contributed to the increased lethality at 38°C.