Abstract
THE presence of a small metabolically active pool of cyanide in the body is now well established. The conversion of cyanide to thiocyanate was first demonstrated in 18941. Although thiocyanate is the main excretory product of cyanide, it has been shown that it can also be oxidized to carbon dioxide and formate, and therefore cyanide-carbon can enter into the metabolism of one-carbon compounds. Using Na14CN, it has also been shown2 that the radiocarbon appears in the methyl groups of choline and methionine and in the ureide carbons of allantoin, and some of it also finds its way into the cyano groups of cyanocobalamin.
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SMITH, A., DUCKETT, S. & WATERS, A. Neuropathological Changes in Chronic Cyanide Intoxication. Nature 200, 179–181 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/200179a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/200179a0
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