title: An investigation of metaldehyde and acetaldehyde toxicities in dogs.
abstract: Acetaldehyde has been reported, but has not been proven, to be the toxic entity resulting from metaldehyde ingestion. To investigate this, male dogs were given a single dose of 600 mg metaldehyde or acetaldehyde/kg of body wt via stomach tube. Clinical signs were monitored, and plasma and urine were assayed for metaldehyde and acetaldehyde. Vomiting occurred less often and in a significantly lower number of metaldehyde-dosed dogs than in acetaldehyde-dosed dogs. Ataxia and tremors occurred significantly more often in metaldehyde-dosed dogs than in acetaldehyde-dosed dogs. Acetaldehyde was not detected in the plasma or urine of metaldehyde-dosed dogs, however, it was found in a sample of vomitus from one of the metaldehyde-dosed dogs. Metaldehyde was found in plasma and urine of metaldehyde-dosed dogs. Urinary excretion of metaldehyde from the metaldehyde-dosed dogs was less than 1%. Urinary excretion of acetaldehyde from acetaldehyde-dosed dogs was essentially nonexistent. Metaldehyde has a larger role in the mechanism of metaldehyde toxicity than previously thought. While acetaldehyde appeared to be of significantly lesser importance, we could not eliminate it as a factor in metaldehyde toxicity in dogs.
mesh_terms: D000079:Acetaldehyde / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D001259:Ataxia / Q000139:chemically induced; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D004285:Dogs; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D008297:Male; D014202:Tremor / Q000139:chemically induced; D014839:Vomiting / Q000139:chemically induced
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide; C002935:metaldehyde; D000079:Acetaldehyde