Intermediary metabolic changes in rabbits administered linamarin or potassium cyanide.

Since cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a staple food item of several million people in the tropics, its toxicity cannot be underestimated. Therefore an attempt has been made to understand the metabolic changes caused by the chronic administration of sublethal doses linamarin, the principal cyanoglucoside of cassava, to rabbits. A significant rise in lactic acid and total cholesterol in liver and brain and a highly significant depletion of phospholipids of brain tissue was observed. There were also significant variations in the lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme pattern of treated animals as compared with the control rabbits. The findings suggest that some of the biological effects of linamarin are similar to those of free cyanide.