First I would like to thank those of you who responded so quickly to my
question on Liquid-liquid extraction so quickly and thoroughly. I
have another question to ask that hopefully some of you might be able
to answer. For many years, methylene blue has been used as a
treatment for people who have been exposed to cyanide, and recently for
people undergoing ifosfamide chemotherapy. MB also works in this same
manner with chloroacetaldehyde (CIAA), the main culprit of CNS toxicity
in ifosfaide treatment. I am making an assumption that cyanide might
in fact have analagous properties to CIAA in some respects that allow
them to both be "neutralized" by MB. Does anyone know of the mechanism
that is operating here, or know where I would be able to find more
information on this organic/biochemical reaction mechanism?
Shayne Woodward
Surgical Research
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
