Studies on Vitamin Metabolism in Emetine Poisoning

Effects of emetine on the metabolism of ascorbic acid

“…When expressed in ,ug/ 100 g body weight the adrenal ascorbic acid content was in fact increased. Diamant et al (1955) observed a decrease in the content of free ascorbic acid in the liver of rats after emetine treatment. The reduced ascorbic acid concentration of the liver of emetine treated rats was accompanied by a diminished ability of the liver to synthesize (-)-ascorbic acid from (+)-glucuronolactone.…”

“…An inhibitory effect of emetine on the Krebs cycle and on glycolysis in the cardiac muscle was demonstrated by Brink, Kotze, Muller & Lochner (1969). Diamant, Halevy & Guggenheim (1955) studied the metabolism of certain vitamins and the ascorbic acid content of different organs. As ascorbic acid plays a role in the development of the resistance of the body to drug toxicity, a study of ascorbic acid metabolism in rats after emetine treatment was carried out in emetine treated rats.…”

“…The reduced serum ascorbic acid concentration in the emetine treated rats (Table 1) may be a result of the diminished synthesis of (-)-ascorbic acid by the liver tissue. Emetine treated rats also excrete less ascorbic acid in their urine (Diamant et al, 1955). In emetine treated rats the liver protein concentration was decreased (Chatterjee et al, 1970) as was the amount of labelled amino-acids incorporated into liver proteins (Jondorf & Szapary, 1968).…”