Citation

Keyser BM, Andres DK, Holmes WW, Paradiso D, Appell A, Letukas VA, Benton B, Clark OE, Gao X, Ray P, Anderson DR, Ray R. Int. J. Toxicol. 2014; 33(4): 271-281.

Affiliation

US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1091581814532959

PMID

24801489

Abstract

Mustard gas (sulfur mustard [SM], bis-[2-chloroethyl] sulfide) is a vesicating chemical warfare agent and a potential chemical terrorism agent. Exposure of SM causes debilitating skin blisters (vesication) and injury to the eyes and the respiratory tract; of these, the respiratory injury, if severe, may even be fatal. Therefore, developing an effective therapeutic strategy to protect against SM-induced respiratory injury is an urgent priority of not only the US military but also the civilian antiterrorism agencies, for example, the Homeland Security. Toward developing a respiratory medical countermeasure for SM, four different classes of therapeutic compounds have been evaluated in the past: anti-inflammatory compounds, antioxidants, protease inhibitors and antiapoptotic compounds. This review examines all of these different options; however, it suggests that preventing cell death by inhibiting apoptosis seems to be a compelling strategy but possibly dependent on adjunct therapies using the other drugs, that is, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and protease inhibitor compounds.

Language: en