Elimination of Paraquat

Abstract

<jats:p> 1 There is a striking discrepancy between the efficacy of the kidneys, haemodialysis and haemoperfusion in removing paraquat from the body and the poor prognosis of paraquat poisoning even when the blood and urine concentrations (which are good indices of concentrations in lung and other tissues) are very low. </jats:p><jats:p> 2 Extracorporeal elimination techniques have been used world-wide in paraquat poisoning. Do they remove paraquat effectively? Certainly. Do they increase the survival rate? Probably not. The reason being that when these techniques of elimination are initiated, potentially lethal concentrations of paraquat have already been attained in the highly vascular tissues of vital organs and in pneumocytes. </jats:p><jats:p> 3 The data presented here suggest that the successful treatment of paraquat poisoning will not be achieved by modification of toxicokinetics. </jats:p>

Survival in a Case of Massive Paraquat Ingestion

“…28 · 33 Hemodialysis effectively removes paraquat from blood, especially when the plasma concentrations are very high. 34 In our case, the dialysis session was associated with a dramatic decrease of plasma paraquat levels. We speculate that this drop in concentration was probably a result of urinary elimination (unfortunately not quantitated) and of rapid tissue uptake, as well as a consequence of extracorporeal removal.…”

Preventive effect of taurine against acute paraquat intoxication in beagles.

“…Finally, in PQ intoxication, many acutely affected human patients suffer from vascular collapse and loss of fluid from vessels into the interstitial space, often leading to death from hypovolemia, with or without renal failure (14,15). The present results suggest that continuous taurine infusion may be able to protect against hypovolemic shock.…”

Prolonged methylprednisolone therapy after the pulse treatment for patients with moderate-to-severe paraquat poisoning

“…Some studies [20,21] reported that the peak time of plasma PQ is 1 to 3 hours, whereas the peak time of lung cells is approximately 4 to 5 hours. Within 5 to 6 hours after ingestion, 90% of PQ disappears in the plasma.…”