Analysis of oxime-induced neuromuscular recovery in guinea pig, rat and man following soman poisoning in vitro.

The bispyridinium oximes HS6 and HI6 were tested in vitro for their ability to restore neuromuscular function in soman-poisoned tissue, using diaphragm and intercostal muscle of the rat and guinea pig and intercostal muscle of man. It was found that the oxime-mediated recovery of function in both tissues of the rat and guinea pig was composed of direct oxime actions, AChE reactivation and adaptation. In the human intercostal muscle, however, only adaptation was observed. These findings might suggest that HS6 and HI6 may have only limited value in the treatment of soman poisoning in man. However, recovery of function in rodent tissues was consistently greater in the diaphragm than in the intercostal muscle and, since human diaphragm tissue was not included in this study the therapeutic efficacy of these oximes in this tissue remains unknown.