Effects of soman poisoning on hematology and coagulation parameters and serum biochemistry in rabbits

The effects of soman poisoning on hematological (counts of red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), and platelets and measurement of hematocrit) and coagulation parameters (prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time and concentrations of fibrinogen, factor V, factor VII, and factor XI) and serum biochemistry (concentration of albumin, protein, calcium, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), magnesium, and creatinine and activities of alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, cholinesterase, creatinine phosphokinase (CPK), hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, and amylase) were determined at 1, 2, 4, 24, and 48 hours after poisoning of rabbits. There were significant (p less than 0.05) decreases in the RBC counts in all treatment groups that were measured initially at 4 hours and were reflected by parallel decreases in the hematocrit values. These changes were probably due to an increase in the hemolysis of the RBC rather than a decrease in the production of RBC. There were minor changes in the coagulation parameters. Generally, the fibrinogen content increased. The activated partial thromboplastin time decreased significantly (p less than 0.05) 24 and 48 hours after soman (50 micrograms/kg) poisoning. Blood cholinesterase values were significantly reduced in all treatment groups at all time periods. The CPK activity was increased after 4 and 24 hours in the 20 and 50 micrograms/kg soman groups. There were minor changes in the other biochemistry values, but none that showed a dose-response relationship; thus, they were considered to be of limited significance with regard to the toxic manifestations of soman exposure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)