Fact or Fiction? Jack W. Dini 1537 Desoto Way Livermore, CA 94550 E-mail: [email protected] Poison or Medicine, Toxin or Drug? “Poisons surround us. It’s not just too ing disorder often strikes those who Tomas Dolinay notes, “The data from much of a bad thing like arsenic that depend on small motor skills: musi- this work leads to a tempting specula- can cause trouble, it’s too much of cians, writers, surgeons. After treat- tion that inhaled CO might be useful in nearly anything. Too much vitamin ments with botulinum toxin, Fleisher minimizing VILI.”5 A, hypervitaminosis A, can cause liver is performing and touring again, and Small amounts of carbon monoxide damage. Too much vitamin D can recently released his first two-handed might alleviate symptoms of multiple damage the kidneys. Too much water recording in 40 years.1 sclerosis, a study in mice suggests. The can result in hyponatremia, a dilution finding may offer a treatment for MS, of the blood’s salt content, which which strikes when a person’s immune disrupts brain heart, and muscle func- Table 1 system damages the fatty sheaths that tion,” reports Cathy Newman.1 Hold a nickel in your hand. protect nerve fibers in the brain and However, more and more research Here’s how many lethal doses equal spinal cord.4 studies are revealing that a little bit that nickel’s weight1 Other studies of laboratory animals of some poisons can be quite helpful suggest that carbon monoxide in small to human health. Examples include Thallium 5 doses can prevent injury to blood ves- botulinum, carbon monoxide, hydro- 1080 Rat Poison 7 sels caused by surgery. In this study, rats that inhaled carbon monoxide- gen sulfide and epibatidine, the toxic Cyanide 25 that native Indians use to make poison laced air for one hour before angio- Strychnine 50 darts. plasty had much less subsequent artery Nicotine 111 blockage than did rats not receiving Botulinum Botulinum 100,000,000 the gas. Rats that underwent a vessel Botulinum is one of the most poison- Anthrax 500,000,000 transplant also fared significantly ous substances known (see Table 1 for better if given carbon monoxide before some comparisons). A gram of botuli- and after the surgery.6 num toxin, if dispersed and ingested, Carbon monoxide could kill 20 million people.1 Yet, do Carbon monoxide is an example of a Hydrogen sulfide you know anyone who has had Botox “pollutant” that is important for human Hydrogen sulfide, the compound treatment to remove wrinkles? This is existence. This deadly gas that kills that gives rotten eggs their odor, can botulinum toxin in extremely dilute thousands each year offers potential be lethal at high concentrations. Yet 3 form. Other applications include relief help for a number of medical issues. researchers in Seattle reported that of migraines, a cure for crossed eyes, Although carbon monoxide inhala- exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas can and a treatment for the spastic condi- tion can be lethal, our bodies make the lower the heart rate, metabolism and tions of multiple sclerosis and cerebral molecule naturally in small amounts body temperature in lab mice.7 Mice in palsy. Researchers in Britain report when an enzyme called heme-oxygen- the study revived and appeared healthy that the combination of botulinum and ase-1 (HO-1) breaks down a portion when exposure to the gas ended. 4 a protein from the Mediterranean coral of the blood protein hemoglobin. This is one step in helping research- tree could provide a treatment for the Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) ers understand about hibernation and chronic pain that afflicts millions of is a major cause of morbidity and torpor in animals.8 people, including cancer patients.2 mortality in intensive care units. The Why is this of interest? This type of Leon Fleisher, one of the world’s stress-inducible gene product, HO-1 suspended animation could offer pro- premier concert pianists, became and carbon monoxide, a major by tection for humans after a heart attack afflicted with focal dystonia, a misfir- product of the oxygenase catalysis or stroke, and it could help people sur- ing of the brain that causes muscles to of heme, have been shown to confer vive while waiting for an organ trans- contract into abnormal, and sometimes potent anti-inflammatory effects in plant. Clinical trials with humans have painful positions. This career threaten- models of tissue and cellular injury. found no significant harmful effects 30 Plating & Surface Finishing • August 2010 August 2010 • Plating & Surface Finishing 31 and more trials are in progress.9 Others 2. James Randerson, “Botulinum toxin Nitrogen oxides are major components soothes chronic pain,” New Scientist, Epibatidine of air pollution from auto exhaust and 178, 14 (April 19, 2003). 3. Liz Geltcher, “Life’s a Gas,” New Epibatidine is the toxic chemical which industrial combustion. Yet nitric oxide Scientist, 172, 39 (November 24, a tropical frog arms itself against its was named “Molecule of the Year” by 2001). predators. Not only is epibatidine Science magazine in 1992 because 4. Nathan Seppa, “Good Poison?” very toxic, and the reason it is used by small controlled doses are extraordi- Science News, 171 (4), 53 (January 27, native Indians to make poison, but it narily beneficial to the body.12 More 2007). also turns out to be a superb painkiller. on the benefits of nitrogen oxides can 5. Tamás Dolinay, et al., “Inhaled Carbon It is two hundred times stronger than be found in the April 2002 issue of this Monoxide Confers Antiinflammatory morphine.10 column. Effects Against Ventilator-Induced The chemical formula for epiba- On the other hand, low doses of Lung Injury,” American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care tidine is C H N Cl. Notice that it some items that are very important for 11 13 2 Medicine, 170 (6), 613 (2004); http: contains chlorine, which makes it an our daily existence can be quite dan- //ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/reprint/ organochlorine compound. Bad stuff, gerous. Oxygen is one example. If you 170/6/613; Online supplement: http: let’s get rid of it, say many environ- breathe pure oxygen at normal room //ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/data/170/ mentalists. Jonathan Adler notes, pressure, you will suffer chest pain, 6/613/DC1/1. “The campaign to phase out the use coughing and a sore throat within six 6. Nathan Seppa, “Carbon monoxide may of chlorine, a staple of modern indus- hours. Hospitals have found that pre- limit vascular damage,” Science News, trial chemistry, perhaps best illustrates mature babies placed in incubators that 163 (8), 126 (February 22, 2003). environmental groups’ absolutist were filled with oxygen-enriched air 7. Eric Blackstone, Mike Morrison & Mark B. Roth, “H S Induces a approach to risk assessment and their went blind because of oxygen damage 2 Suspended Animation-Like State in success at building political support. to their retinas. Mice,” Science, 308 (5721), 518 (April The anti-chlorine crusade was a fringe 22, 2005). campaign initiated by Greenpeace, Summary 8. Ben Harder, “Perchance to Hibernate,” but it has attracted adherents from Edward Calabrese of the University Science News, 171 (4), 56, (January throughout the environmental commu- of Massachusetts-Amherst is a strong 27, 2007). nity.” It’s endorsed to varying degrees proponent of hormesis, a scientific 9. Sanjay Gupta, Cheating Death: The by the National Wildlife Federation, name that means low doses help and Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds, Environmental Defense Fund, Natural high doses hurt. He’s concerned that Wellness Central, New York, NY, Resources Defense Council, Sierra if researchers don’t begin regularly 2009; p. 76. Club, U.S. Public Interest Research probing the effects of agents at very 10. John Emsley, Molecules at an Group, National Audubon Society, low doses, scientists will continue to Exhibition: Portraits of Intriguing Citizens for a Better Environment in miss important health impacts - both Materials in Everyday Life, Oxford Chicago and World Wildlife Fund.11 good and bad of pollutants, drugs and University Press, Oxford, U.K., 1998; Since epibatidine comes from frogs, other agents. Janet Raloff points out, p. 84. what do you do to get rid of this chlo- “Regulatory agencies don’t require 11. Jonathan Adler, Environmentalism rine product? As John Emsley points scientists to evaluate a poison at expo- at the Crossroads: Green activism in America, Capital Research Center, out, “Epibatidine is an organochlorine sures below that at which no harm is Washington, DC, 1995; p. 40. compound, which confounds some- apparent. This dose is referred to as the 12. Daniel E. Koshland, Jr., “The Molecule what the environmentalists’ belief that NOAEL, for ‘no observable adverse- of the Year,” Science, 258 (5090), 1861 14 organochlorines are entirely manufac- effects level.” (December 18, 1992). tured chemicals that cause disease and Two obvious benefits can accrue 13. Ben Bova, Immortality: How Science damage the environment. Epibatidine from testing effects at low doses: (1) is Extending Your Lifespan and is highly dangerous, but it is perfectly medical help might be found from Changing the World Expanding, Avon natural. It would seem a little unfair items otherwise known to be toxic Books, New York, NY, 1998; p. 23. on the frogs to eradicate them because and (2) if traces of certain pollutants 14. Janet Raloff, “Counterintuitive Toxicity,” Science News, 171 (3), 40 they are making a dangerous organo- are not as dangerous as previous esti- (January 20, 2007). chlorine molecule.”10 mates had suggested, perhaps some The epibatidine story is only just overly stringent regulations could be starting. As Emsley notes, “It might changed. Dream on.