Comparative Lung-Airway Resistance and Cardiovascular Effects in Dogs and Monkeys Following Parathion and Sarin Intoxication

A comparison in dogs and monkeys of fatal Parathion and Sarin intoxication with regard to respiratory and cardiovascular effects showed that the dog attained relative increases in lung-airway resistance four or more times greater than the monkey. Resistance was higher in the animals having had two ld50's rather than eight. A correlation was found between abundance of peribronchial smooth muscle and severity of resistance. The effects in monkeys support a closer relationship with central or neuromuscular depression, or both, than with rising lung-airway resistance, as in dogs. Both species reacted similarly with regard to intracardiac block and cardiac rates. Monkeys failed to attain a hypertensive state upon cessation of breathing, as did dogs.