Experimental Tubular Necrosis of the Kidneys Accompanied by Liver Changes Due to Dioxan Poisoning

Abstract

1. Dioxan when given intravenously and by stomach tube to guinea-pigs, rabbits and cats produces a state of drunken intoxication. 2. The minimum lethal dose for rabbits and cats is 1·5 c.c. per kg. intravenously and 2·0 c.c. per kg. by stomach tube. 3. Tolerance is rapidly acquired and recovery is complete after repeated sublethal doses. 4. In human beings lethal doses of dioxan produce primarily a necrosis of the intralobular arteries of the kidney with resulting necrosis of the parenchyma; whereas in laboratory animals, it has a selective action on the convoluted tubules, which undergo an acute hydropic degeneration, causing intrarenal obstruction and anuria with subsequent death from uraemia. 5. The so-called “necrosis” of the liver produced in rabbits with dioxan is a transitory phenomenon due to the presence of glycogen. This may be equally so in the “central zonal necrosis” seen in dioxan poisoning in human beings. 6. It is suggested that the toxicity of dioxan to human beings is relatively low and that large doses are required to produce lethal effects.