Figure 2

Glyoxylate improves survival rates in vertebrate animal models. (A) Percent survival of 5 dpf zebrafish treated with indicated KCN and glyoxylate concentrations, survival assessed 20 h after administration. Fish were arrayed 3 per well. N = 5 wells per glyoxylate concentration in each of the given cyanide conditions. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. (B) Mice were exposed for a total of 40 min to 587 ppm HCN gas in a sealed chamber. At 15 min, the mice were removed and received an intramuscular injection of 60 mg/kg glyoxylate (green line), 120 mg/kg glyoxylate (blue line), or saline (red line), and returned to the cyanide chamber for 25 min. N = 6 for all three groups. There was a significant difference in survival between mice injected with 120 mg/kg glyoxylate and mice injected with saline (***p = 0.0005), but not between mice injected with 60 mg/kg glyoxylate and mice injected with saline (p = 0.15). (C) An LD80 lethal level dose of i.v. NaCN was administered to rabbits. Upon reaching target systolic BP (50 mm/Hg), 11 control rabbits were injected with 2 mL saline and 10 rabbits were given 2 M glyoxylate while the NaCN infusion continued for 30 min to a total dose of 22 mg. Injection of saline or glyoxylate is designated as time t = 0.