title: Toxicity and metabolism of trimethylarsine in mice and hamsters.
abstract: Trimethylarsine (TM-As) proved to be an arsenic compound of low toxicity, with a po LD50 of 7870 mg/kg in mice. A single po dose of 10 mg/kg of TM-As caused no hemolysis, but a single po dose of 750 mg/kg induced mild, transient hemolysis in hamsters. TM-As was very rapidly eliminated into the urine, with a biological half-life of 3.7 hr. TM-As was oxidized in vivo to form trimethylarsine oxide (TMAO) and excreted as such into the urine. TM-As was never demethylated in vivo. A mechanism was demonstrated by which a part of TM-As was eliminated directly into the expired air. We drew a conclusion that TM-As is far less an toxic than arsine, most probably due to its in vivo conversion to TMAO.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaise
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis; D020261:Arsenic Poisoning; D001152:Arsenicals / Q000378:metabolism; D006224:Cricetinae; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006403:Hematologic Tests; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D001152:Arsenicals; C009572:trimethylarsine; D001151:Arsenic