The safety of melarsomine dihydrochloride was studied in 24 healthy beagle dogs. Drug was administered
at 0, 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 mg/kg for 6 consecutive days (0, 1, 2, and 3 times the recommended dosage). Clinical observations included tremors, lethargy, unsteadiness/ ataxia, restlessness, panting, shallow and labored respiration, and/or rales. These
signs were seen in all groups treated with melarsomine dihydrochloride with frequency and intensity
increasing with increasing dosage. Death or euthanasia in a moribund state occurred in 3/6 dogs in
the 7.5 mg/kg (3X) group. The signs exhibited by these dogs, in addition to the signs described
above, included collapse, severe salivation, vomiting, respiratory distress, cyanosis, stupor, and
death within 4 hours of the first dose in two dogs and within 20 hours of the second dose in one dog.
Body weights, water consumption, hematology and urine parameters were comparable to controls.
Decreased food consumption occurred sporadically in the two high dose groups. Elevations, up to
25-fold, in creatinine kinase (CK) and elevations, up to 7-fold, in aspartate aminotransferase
(AST) were observed and related grossly and histologically to muscle damage at the injection sites. Up to 2-fold
elevations in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were also noted. Gross and microscopic pathology
revealed no organ-related toxicity other than edema and acute inflammation in the lungs and pleural
effusion in the 3 dogs that died at the 7.5 mg/kg dose. Injection site irritation was observed in the skeletal muscles at all dose levels.
At 5.0 mg/kg an injection site abscess was observed in one dog.
A separate study was conducted to examine the inten- sity and duration of injection site reactions.
The dogs were dosed at 2.5 and 5.0 mg/kg (1X and 2X the recommended dose) twice 24 hours apart.
This treat- ment series was repeated 4 months later. One group received the second treatment series
after 1 month to mimic the alternate dosing regime. Swelling, which occurred within 7 days of
injection and persisted from 1 to 72 days (average 30 days), was the most common clinical
observation. A small, firm nodule in the lumbar region of one dog in the 1X group appeared during
the first month of the study and persisted for 41 days. Pain at or following injection was not observed in this study. Elevations of the same magnitude as in the previous study and again related to muscle damage were observed in CK and AST within 8 hours of
injection. The values approached pretest levels by 72 hours and were within the normal range established by control animals by
1 month post-injection.
Gross and microscopic evidence of injection site irritation (cellular infiltrate, fibrosis,
necrosis, and hemorrhage) was still evident in the muscles 1 month post-injection in dogs at both
dose levels. By 3 months post-injection, resolution (healing) was evident micro- scopically in the
skeletal muscles at the 2.5 mg/kg dose level. One dog treated at the 2X dose had extension of
treatment-related injection site inflammation into deeper tissues (i.e., abdominal cavity) as evidenced by an adhesion between the spleen and mesentery.