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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Measuring Nitrite and Nitrate, Metabolites in the Nitric Oxide Pathway, in Biological Materials using the Chemiluminescence Method
Published on: December 25, 2016
Two cases of methemoglobinaemia caused by suspected sodium nitrite poisoning
Osvaldo Matteucci1, Gianfranco Diletti, Vincenza Prencipe
1Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise G. Caporale, Via Campo Boario, Teramo, Italy. o.matteucci@izs.it
Abstract:
Among the causes of acute methemoglobinaemia are the ingestion and inhalation of over 40 oxidising substances, including nitrite, nitrate, carbon monoxide, some medicines, chlorine. The authors describe a case of acute methemoglobinaemia in two people that most probably suffered from food poisoning resulting from the consumption of a preparation of a dish called turkey alla canzanese that contained significant amounts of sodium nitrite. Both subjects who were treated promptly with methylene blue and hyperbaric oxygen therapy room recovered fully. Epidemiological investigations performed to clarify the dynamics of the episode suggested that among the causes of contamination were the swapping of products at the time of sale and the non-compliance to rules for the preparation of foods for human consumption.
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