TerrorismA better cyanide antidote for terrorist attacks, mass casualty events
The current procedure for treating cyanide poisoning requires highly trained paramedical personnel and takes time. Cyanide, however, is a fast-acting poison. In a situation involving mass casualties, only a limited number of victims could be saved with IV medication. Scientists are reporting discovery of a promising substance that could be the basis for development of a better antidote for cyanide poisoning.
The latest episode in the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcast series describes a new advance toward closing a major gap in defenses against terrorist attacks and other mass casualty events. Scientists are reporting discovery of a promising substance that could be the basis for development of a better antidote for cyanide poisoning. The potential antidote could be self-administered, much like the medication delivered by allergy injection pens.
Based on a report by Steven E. Patterson, Ph.D., and colleagues in ACS Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, the new podcast is available without charge at iTunes and from www.acs.org/globalchallenges.
An ACS release reports that in the new episode, Patterson explains that the only existing antidotes for cyanide — recognized as a high-risk substance for potential use by terrorists — must be administered by intravenous infusion, or an “IV.”
That procedure requires highly trained paramedical personnel and takes time. Cyanide, however, is a fast-acting poison. In a situation involving mass casualties, only a limited number of victims could be saved with IV medication. Patterson’s team thus sought an antidote that could be administered by intra-muscular (IM) injection, a simpler procedure that could be administered rapidly to a large number of victims or even be self-administered.
Their report describes discovery of a substance, sulfanegen TEA, “which should be amenable for development as an IM injectable antidote suitable for treatment of cyanide victims in a mass casualty setting. Further development, including efficacy in lethal cyanide animal models, will be reported at a later date.”
The release notes that Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions is a series of podcasts describing some of the twenty-first century’s most daunting problems, and how cutting-edge research in chemistry matters in the quest for solutions. Global Challenges is the centerpiece in an alliance on sustainability between ACS and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
— Read more in Steven E. Patterson et al., “Cyanide Antidotes for Mass Casualties: Water-Soluble Salts of the Dithiane (Sulfanegen) from 3-Mercaptopyruvate for Intramuscular Administration,” Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 56, no. 3 (9 January 2013): 1346–49 (DOI: 10.1021/jm301633x)
