Antivitamin B-6 effect of 1-aminoproline on rats

By intraperitoneal injection of 1-aminoproline, death after severe convulsion was observed in rats (LD50 of 1-amino-L-proline, 26 mg per kg of body weight for young male rats fed a normal diet). The vitamin B-6-deficient rats were more sensitive to this hydrazino acid than the normal rats. The toxic effect was completely prevented by the administration of pyridoxine. 1-Amino-D-proline was less toxic than the L-isomer. By the 1-aminoproline treatment, the most remarkable changes in the free amino acid levels were the striking increases in the concentrations of alpha-aminoadipic acid, citrulline and cystathionine in all the tissues tested, except in brain. Some unidentified ninhydrin-positive substances appeared. These results indicate that 1-aminoproline greatly disturbed the amino acid pattern, i.e. the amino acid metabolism in rats.