ABSTRACT
An experimental study for the systemic effects of 5% ethanolamine oleate was conducted on 46 rats, divided into 3 main groups. Rats in group A were subdivided into 3 subgroups of 5 animals each. They were injected once intraperitoneally with 2, 4 and 5 ml of the drug respectively. None of the animals showed any sign of acute toxicity. Histological examination was performed 24 hours after the injection to the liver, spleen, kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, blood and bone marrow and it did not reveal any abnormality. Group B included 28 rats, which were studied for the chronic effect of the drug. They were sub- divided into 4 subgroups, which were injected daily with 0.5 ml of 5% ethanolamine oleate for 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks respectively. None of the animals died. Histopathological changes were found only in the lungs, affecting 37.5% of the injected animals. There was lymphoid hyperplasia in 20.8%. Interstitial and intraalveolar edema and hemorrhage, with vascular congestion were detected in 25%. There was no correlation between the duration of the injections and the incidence of the lung lesions. Group C included 3 rats, which were injected once in the lower esophagus through a laparotomy. They were given 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 ml of the drug respectively. Only the rat which was injected with 0.75 ml, developed lung edema, hemorrhage and congestion, when examined 2 weeks after the administration. It can be concluded that 5% ethanolamine oleate is relatively a safe drug. Rats tolerated up to 5 ml single dose without any detectable effect. This dose is equivalent to 180 ml if given to man. However, with frequent repeated doses, there is a potential hazard of injury to the lung capillaries