Assessment of efficacy of activated charcoal for treatment of acute T-2 toxin poisoning.

"Superactive" charcoal was assessed for efficacy in decreasing the lethality of both oral and parenteral exposure to T-2 toxin, a fungal metabolite which can cause death or illness upon ingestion. In vitro binding studies, analyzed using the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, showed that activated charcoal had a maximal binding capacity of 0.48 mg toxin/mg charcoal and a dissociation constant of 0.078 mg charcoal/l. In vivo, orally administered, activated charcoal was assessed for treatment of acute oral or parenteral exposure to T-2 toxin in mice. Following oral toxin administration (5 mg/kg), untreated mice showed only 6% survival after 72 hr. Charcoal treatment (7 g/kg,po) either immediately or 1 hr after toxin exposure resulted in significant improvement in survival with values of 100% and 75%, respectively. Following parenteral toxin exposure (2.8 mg/kg, sc), untreated and charcoal-treated (7 g/kg, po) mice showed 50% and 90% survival, respectively, after 72 hr. LD50 value for T-2 toxin, determined at 96 hr after intoxication, increased significantly from 2 mg/kg for untreated controls to 4.5 mg/kg for activated charcoal treatment.