Abstract

Biochemical Mechanisms of Paraquat Toxicity presents the proceedings of the First Iowa Symposium on Toxic Mechanisms that was held from June 28-29, 1976. The symposium brought together a diverse group of investigators consisting of chemists, pharmacologists, pathologists, biochemists, and toxicologists from the United States, Canada, and Europe who have been interested in the mechanism of paraquat toxicity.
The book includes papers on the following topics: the general features of toxic lung injury and observations with paraquat and diquat; electron transfer reactions of paraquat; the pathological effects of paraquat on the human lung; and the importance of oxygen and pulmonary alveolar surfactant in lung injury by paraquat. Other papers deal with the effects of paraquat on kidney and liver function in experimental animals; lipid peroxidation as a proposed mechanism for paraquat toxicity; pulmonary fibrosis as a consequence of paraquat toxicity; biochemical changes in lungs exposed to paraquat; effects of selenium deficiency on paraquat toxicity; and treatment for paraquat poisoning.