Amygdalin and Laetrile chemical compounds, sold as Vitamin B-17, gained fame in the 1950s for their supposed cancer treatment properties. Research later revealed that the two were not effective in cancer treatment. Amygdaline, whose IUPAC name is 6 -O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-β-D-glucopyranosyl) oxy] (phenyl) acetonitrile, naturally occurs in the pits of plants such as plums, apricots, apples, peaches, and bitter almonds. Amygdalin (D-mandelonitrile- ᵦ -gentiobioside) was first isolated from bitter almond seeds by French chemists Pierre-Jean Robiquet and A.F.Boutron-Charlard in 1830 (Horneber et al., 2015) . Later in 1923, its structure was elucidated and synthesized by chemists Walter Norman Haworth and Birkett Wylam. Laetrile is a trading name for laevo-mandelonitrile-beta-glucuronoside , which is a purified synthetic form of Amygdalin.
Amygdalin and Laetrile contain a common structural component, mandelonitrile, which contains cyanide. The nitrile group can be released as cyanide anion in the presence of beta-glucosidase enzyme. Amygdaline is hydrolyzed by intestinal beta-glucosidase and amygdalin beta-glucosidase to give gentiobiose and L-mandelonitrile. Gentiobiose further hydrolyzes to give glucose while mandelonitrile decomposes to give benzaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide, whose accumulation in the body causes cyanide poisoning (Horneber et al., 2015) . Laetrile is hydrolyzed in the intestines and duodenum to D-glucuronic acid and L-mandelonitrile, which is further hydrolyzed to hydrogen cyanide. Pharmacokinetics of amygdalin has been conducted in the Beagle dog. It was administered both orally and intravenously, and the excretions were studied. The pharmacokinetics of amygdalin after administration were compared with those of diatrizoate (a model substance for extracellular volume and glomerular filtration). In these studies, its toxicity appears to be dependent on the route of administration. The pharmacodynamics of amygdalin indicate toxic cyanide reactions and escalating blood cyanide levels, along with side effects like headache, vomiting, cyanosis, liver damage, mental confusion, coma, and death.
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References
Horneber, M., Ernst, E., & Milazzo, S. (2015). Laetrile treatment for cancer. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews , 2015 (4). PDQ Cancer Information Summaries (March 15, 2017).Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK65988/
