Abstract

Cyanide intoxication in mice can be antagonized by the administration of oxygen, especially when the oxygen is given in combination with the conventional cyanide antidotes, sodium nitrite and sodium thiosuhfate. Potency ratios, derived from the LD50 values, were compared in groups of mice treated with sodium thiosulfate, sodium nitrite and different concentrations of oxygen, either alone or in various combinations after potassium cyanide was injected. These results indicate that the administration of oxygen alone provides only minimal antagonism and it enhances the effect of sodium nitrite to only a minor degree. However, oxygen strikingly potentiates the antidotal effect of sodium thiosulfate either alone or in combination with sodium nitrite.