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
The effective dose in these experiments showed considerable variation.
One dog (No. 38) died after a dose of 0.12 gram caffein per kilo, while
some subjects survived doses of 0.2 and 0.23 gram per kilo. In the 12
experiments given in Table 12, page 62, it will be noticed that from
0.12 to 0.152 gram per kilo proved fatal to three dogs, while three
others survived the same amounts in proportion to the body weight. The
results were the same with larger doses. It may be observed in this
connection that in the case of the five dogs in which vomiting was
noticed some time during the 24 hours following the administration
of caffein, four survived, No. 38 being the exception. The greater
toxicity of caffein in this case is in all probability due to some
morbid process, the presence of which was indicated by the high
temperature of this subject.
That vomiting may avert a fatal issue after larger doses of caffein
is made further probable by experiment on dog No. 48, for which, in
the absence of vomiting, a dose of 0.2 gram of caffein per kilo proved
fatal. On this supposition the discrepancy in the results obtained in
this series may be readily explained. The smallest doses which proved
fatal in these experiments were 0.145 and 0.152 gram per kilo. No. 38,
which died from a dose of 0.12 gram per kilo, may be considered as an
exception, as this subject was not normal. Experiments with caffein on
dogs were made at various other times in this laboratory but failed to
show that smaller doses of caffein, even when vomiting did not occur
after its administration, were fatal, although toxic effects were
observed. The conclusion is therefore justified that the minimum fatal
dose of caffein for the normal dog is about 0.15 gram per kilo when
given by mouth.
SUBCUTANEOUS INJECTION.
SERIES B.
To determine the toxicity of caffein more accurately, especially for
comparison with animals of other species, the subcutaneous method
of administration was also used. The injections were made with a
syringe of 20 cc capacity, the contents of which were introduced into
contiguous areas. The results of experiments on six dogs indicate that
approximately 150 to 160 mg per kilo is the minimum fatal dose, since
such doses proved fatal to two out of the three animals receiving this
amount, while three others which received doses of from 143 to 160 mg
per kilo survived.
EXPERIMENTS ON PUPPIES.
SERIES C.
In these experiments the resistance of young growing puppies to caffein
was studied. Caffein was given by mouth to all the subjects except one,
to which it was administered subcutaneously. The protocols, only a few
of which are given, and the tabulated data of the experiments (p. 62)
show that the age of the animal has a decided influence on the toxicity
of caffein.
_Dog 11. Weight, 1,260 grams._
August 2: At 10 a. m. given 12.5 cc of 2 per cent of caffein through
stomach tube; 2 p. m., had convulsions, diarrhea, salivation, and
stiffness of limbs.
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