A Pyridoxal-β-Cyanoalanine Relation in the Rat

DURING the past few years, three neurotoxic principles that are amino-acid in nature, 2,4-diaminobutyric acid¹, β-N-oxalyl-2,3-diaminopropionic acid², and β-cyanoalanine in both free and peptide forms^3,4 have been isolated from seeds of Lathyrus and vetch plants. This is of interest because lathyrism, a neurological disease in man and certain animals, has at times been associated with excessive consumption of certain peas containing these compounds⁵. Little is known about the biological basis of neurolathyrism or of the toxicity of the isolated principles. We wish to report here evidence that seems to indicate a link between the action of β-cyanoalanine and vitamin B₆.