Subchronic oral toxicity of strychnine in rats

In recent years strychnine has been used for the treatment of nonketotic hyperglycinemia, a rare metabolic disease in infants. Since no information on repeated dose toxicity of this drug was available, a subacute oral toxicity study in rats was conducted. Strychnine hydrochloride was administered orally to rats for 4 weeks in aqueous 0,2 % solution. The study showed no organ and tissue damage or functional disorders. The difficulty to conduct meaningful repeated-dose toxicity studies with drugs exhibiting potent pharmacological actions and a steep dose-effect curve are discussed.