The Toxicity of Caffein: An experimental study on different species of animalsSalant, William
Science
The Toxicity of Caffein: An experimental study on different species of animals
Salant, William
Caffeine -- Physiological effect
Notwithstanding the diversity in the method of experimentation,
there was a striking uniformity in some of the results obtained. All
the experiments of the series showed absence of cumulative action
of caffein. The experimental evidence presented indicates that
moderately large doses may be given at intervals of about 24 hours
without inducing any symptoms of nervous or any other disturbance.
This is illustrated in the tests on dog 11, which were preliminary
in character. In this subject 100 to 150 mg of caffein per kilo were
ingested daily for several days without showing any changes. Later
in the course of the experiment, after larger doses were given, mild
symptoms only, such as tremors, were observed. Additional evidence
of the absence of cumulative action of caffein was furnished by the
results of the following experiments:
Dog 23 received 142 mg of caffein per kilo on three successive days.
His general condition indicated that these amounts of caffein were
toxic, but he survived. In another series of tests, made after he was
allowed to rest a few days, he again failed to show any cumulation of
the drug, as he survived this time a series of tests of longer duration
than the first.
A much better illustration of the absence of cumulative action of the
drug is furnished by the experiments on dog No. 20. In this case 100 to
125 mg of caffein per kilo, given on 10 consecutive days, did not cause
any marked effects. Diarrhea and restlessness were the only symptoms
observed. These experiments therefore show that the elimination and
decomposition of caffein are apparently effected by the body within
twenty-four hours or thereabouts.
Experiments on dog 19, however, form an exception--the third dose of
125 mg caffein per kilo having proved fatal. The very low protein
content of the diet of this dog suggests itself as a possible cause of
the lower resistance to caffein of this subject. But it may be observed
that the same diet was furnished to dog 20, which stood such amounts of
caffein much longer. The presence of a trace of albumin in the urine
of dog 19 is likewise inadmissible as a cause of the difference in
the toxicity of caffein in this dog, for the urine of dog 20 likewise
contained a trace of albumin. The alkaline reaction of the urine,
together with the fact that the first dose of only 60 mg of caffein per
kilo induced symptoms of toxicity, suggests the presence of an abnormal
condition which in all probability was the cause of the death of this
subject under the conditions indicated.
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