You are contacted by a medical examiner seeking your expertise in cellular respi

Question

You are contacted by a medical examiner seeking your expertise in cellular respiration. She is investigating a suspicious death and believes the deceased may have been a victim of cyanide poisoning! An autopsy revealed that the immediate cause of death was hypoxia (lack of oxygen); however, blood oxygen levels were normal, even slightly elevated. Based on these observations, the medical examiner conducted several more tests on cellular metabolites, and key results are summarized in the table below Normal Very low Glucose levels ATP levels Pyruvate levelsNormal Acetyl CoA levelsNormal NADH levels NAD+ levels Very high Low in What is the mechanism of action of cyanide on a molecular level? Is cyanide poisoning consistent with the cause of death in this case (hypoxia)? . Based on the test results provided to you, do you have enough evidence to confirm the suspicions of the medical examiner? Explain your reasoning and why you would/would not expect the above results. Is there any other information that would be helpful to make a decision? Given that the cause of death was hypoxia, could the victim have been saved if oxygen was administered before death? Why or why not? .

Explanation / Answer

1-the cyanide molecule which dissolves within the water film(air sac) forming cyanide ions intrude with mobile breathing, resulting within the frame's tissues being unable to use oxygen .cyanide poisoning has resulted because the cells of an organism are not able to create ATP(supplying power for respiration), commonly through the inhibition of the mitochondrial enzyme . Yes as we can see in further test level of ATP is very low which is due to action of cyanide.

2- If we considered above test we can admit that cyanide can be the reason of death as level of ATP was low which is due to tha action of cyanide which stop the mitochondira to generate energy which is due to the ATP generation hence if level of ATP is low there is a chance of deat due to cyanide, further we can follow through postmortm of the body to full confrim the reason of death.

3- Yes there is a chance to save a person who is suffering from hypoxia by giving additional oxygen support as additional oxygen counter affect the low oxygen generation to the body due to cyanide and lead to balance body energy demand.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse Y
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.