@article {CARMICHAEL193, author = {EMMETT B. CARMICHAEL}, title = {THE INFLUENCE OF CHEMICAL AND OTHER AGENTS UPON THE TOXICITY AND ANTIGENIC POWER OF RICIN II. THE DETOXIFICATION OF RICIN BY MEANS OF VARIOUS AGENCIES}, volume = {35}, number = {3}, pages = {193--221}, year = {1929}, publisher = {American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics}, abstract = {Ricin was prepared according to the method used by Osborne, Mendel and Harris (20). The preparations of toxin possessed the two distinct characteristic properties or functions which have been assigned to ricin by Field (7): first, of being able to agglutinate mammalian red blood cells and, second, of being toxic for animals. That is, my preparations of ricin agglutinated washed red blood cells and caused them to precipitate or settle upon the bottom of the vessel and also the preparations were very toxic for laboratory animals when dilute solutions were injected subcutaneously. Various means of detoxifying ricin were employed in order to see whether it were possible to find a good method for destroying the toxic function without injuring its power to produce an immunity against ricin and a method that might be modified and applied clinically for detoxifying other toxins. The following agents were used to destroy the toxic part or property of ricin: (1) oxidizing agents: (a) potassium permanganate, (b) hydrogen peroxide (30 per cent), (c) ozone, (d) chlorine, (e) bromine, (f) iodine; (2) congo red; (3) ultraviolet light. Aqueous solutions of ricin were treated with the above chemical and physical agents and the resulting solutions were injected into animals. All of the above agents were able to detoxify ricin but the detoxifying power varied according to the particular one used. For example, congo red prevented the killing of mice when a small quantity was mixed with a lethal dose of the toxin and injected subcutaneously, while potassium permanganate was so active in destroying the toxicity of ricin that in a few minutes it rendered quantities of the toxin, equivalent to more than 5000 fatal doses, so non-toxic that they would not kill rabbits when injected subcutaneously. The dye, neutral red, was not effective in destroying the toxic function as all of the mice died which were injected. The control mice which were injected with the dyes, in as large quantities as injected with toxin, lived and seemed quite normal. Ulcers did not develop. Hydrogen peroxide was not very active in destroying the toxin but at least it did have some action on it as two lethal doses could be injected after the treatment without causing death. The halogens employed detoxified the preparations but they were not quite as active as permanganate which rendered a large number of lethal doses non-toxic within a few minutes. Ultraviolet light did destroy the toxin and my experiments seemed to show that ricin was easily destroyed by certain wavelengths.}, issn = {0022-3565}, URL = {https://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/35/3/193}, eprint = {https://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/35/3/193.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics} }