Animal experiment:

Rats[2]Twenty male Wistar rats, approximately 6-7 weeks of age and weighing approximately 175-200 g upon receipt, are used. A total of 12 rats are dosed intramuscularly with L-(+)-Abrine at 0.63, 3.13, and 5 times the expected Abrin LD50 of 20 μg/kg. Although no toxin is used here, the concentration of the biomarker is increased by a factor of 4 to estimate an equivalent level of toxin, assuming that Labrine is present in rosary peas at a concentration four times greater that the toxin abrin. A total of 12 rats are dosed intramuscularly with L-(+)-Abrine: four at approximately 50 μg/kg body weight (bw), four at 250 μg/kg bw, and four at 400 μg/kg bw. Four control rats are dosed with water, which is the vehicle for all dosing experiments. Another four rats are dosed intraperitoneally with 20,000 μg/kg L-tryptophan to verify that endogenous L-tryptophan is not metabolized to L-(+)-Abrine[2].

L-(+)-Abrine, a lethal albumin found in Abrus precatorius seeds, is an acute toxic alkaloid and chemical marker for abrin.

L-(+)-Abrine is a marker for abrin poisoning. A strong indication for abrin poisoning is the presence of the chemical maker L-(+)-Abrine, which can survive metabolism in significant amounts making it detectable in human urine[1].

Abrin is a toxic protein found in the jequirity seed. L-(+)-Abrine (L-Abrine) is also found in the jequirity seed and can be used as a biomarker for abrin exposure. An animal study is designed to monitor the excretion and recovery of L-(+)-Abrine in 20 rats. The animals are exposed to one of three concentrations of L-(+)-Abrine, a single high concentration of L-tryptophan, or no agent (control). The low L-(+)-Abrine dose corresponds to 0.63 LD50 i.p. abrin in mice, assuming a concentration ratio of 1:4 of abrin to L-(+)-Abrine and an LD50 for abrin of 20 μg/kg. The mid and high L-(+)-Abrine (250 and 400 μg/kg) doses are included to ensure that the target analyte can be detected and tracked over the course of the experiment[2].

[1]. Cho H, et al. A portable and chromogenic enzyme-based sensor for detection of abrin poisoning. Biosens Bioelectron. 2014 Apr 15;54:667-73. [2]. Johnson RC, et al. Quantification of L-abrine in human and rat urine: a biomarker for the toxin abrin. J Anal Toxicol. 2009 Mar;33(2):77-84.