TABLE 1.
Median lethal doses (LD50 values) for the nerve agents VX, soman, and sarin in neonatal, prepubertal, and adult guinea pigs of both sexes Agents were injected subcutaneously between the shoulder blades of the animals and 24-h survival in each experimental group was computed. Using the software Stats Direct (StatsDirect Limited), the resulting sigmoid dose-response relationships (see Figs. 1, 2, 3) were linearized by probit transformation to estimate LD50 values for each nerve agent in the various animal groups. For each test dose, number of animals ranged from four to 12. Numbers in parentheses represent 95% confidence intervals for the estimated LD50 values.
|
Nerve Agent
|
LD50
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VX | Soman | Sarin | ||
| μg/kg | ||||
| PND5–10 | Male | 9.15(8.61–9.90) | 25.1(24.2–26.1) | 37.7(35.9–39.4) |
| Female | 9.94(9.51–9.89) | 25.9(23.9–32.0) | 36.2(34.2–38.2) | |
| PND35–45 | Male | 8a | 28a | 42a |
| Female | 8.05(7.73–9.77) | 26.2(25.7–26.8) | 33.9(29.3–36.5) | |
| PND120–150 | Male | 6.67(6.13–7.17) | 24.9(24.0–26.9) | 31.7(29.0–33.7) |
| Female | 9.37(8.49–10.1) | 27.0(25.2–29.7) | 39.6(34.6–46.5) | |
a
LD50 values are from Shih and McDonough (2000)