What was strychnine used for

Br Med J , 2: Vet Hum Toxicol , Br Med J , Article Google Scholar. Perper JA: Fatal strychnine poisoning — A case report and review of the literature. J Forensic Sci , A light microscopic autoradiograhic study using [3H] strychnine. Neuroscience , Clin Toxicol , 3: Am J Med , J Toxicol Clin Toxicol , J Pediatrics , The Lancet , 2: Smith BA: Strychnine poisoning.

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Correspondence to David Michael Wood. Reprints and Permissions. Wood, D. Case report: Survival after deliberate strychnine self-poisoning, with toxicokinetic data.

Crit Care 6, Download citation. Received : 03 May Revised : 06 June Accepted : 10 June Published : 10 July Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:. Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative. Skip to main content.

Search all BMC articles Search. Download PDF. Abstract Introduction Strychnine poisoning is uncommon, and in most severe cases, the patient dies before reaching hospital. Case report A year-old man presented shortly after ingestion of an unknown quantity of strychnine powder. Results The initial concentration at 1. Discussion and conclusion Strychnine poisoning presents with classical features, and with early diagnosis and supportive management, the patient can survive.

The alkaloid was first isolated in by Pelletier and Caventou. Besides strychnine, the dried seeds of S. Strychnine was first introduced as a rodenticide in , and in subsequent centuries was used medically as a cardiac, respiratory, and digestive stimulant, 45 as an analeptic, 92 and as an antidote to barbiturate 91 and opioid overdoses. In , at least commercial products were found to contain strychnine, including 77 rodenticides, 25 veterinary products, and 41 products made for human use.

Currently, strychnine is used as a rodenticide for moles, gophers, and pigeons and a research tool for the study of glycine receptors. Most commercially available strychnine-containing products contain about 0. Between and , strychnine killed more than three Americans every week.

Strychnine poisoning has resulted from deliberate exposure with suicidal and homicidal intent, 27 , 50 as well as from unintentional poisoning by a Chinese herbal medicine Maqianzi 16 and a Cambodian traditional remedy slang nut. The bitter taste of strychnine allows it to be used to adulterate heroin 43 and cocaine. Your MyAccess profile is currently affiliated with '[InstitutionA]' and is in the process of switching affiliations to '[InstitutionB]'.

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Learn More. Sign in via OpenAthens. Sign in via Shibboleth. Quickly moving to an area where fresh air is available is highly effective in reducing the possibility of death from exposure to a chemical that has been released into the air. Any clothing that has to be pulled over the head should be cut off the body instead of pulled over the head. If you are helping other people remove their clothing, try to avoid touching any contaminated areas, and remove the clothing as quickly as possible.

Washing yourself: As quickly as possible, wash any strychnine from your skin with large amounts of soap and water. Washing with soap and water will help protect people from any chemicals on their bodies. If your eyes are burning or your vision is blurred, rinse your eyes with plain water for 10 to 15 minutes.

If you wear contacts, remove them and put them with the contaminated clothing. Do not put the contacts back in your eyes even if they are not disposable contacts. If you wear eyeglasses, wash them with soap and water. You can put your eyeglasses back on after you wash them.

Disposing of your clothes: After you have washed yourself, place your clothing inside a plastic bag. Avoid touching contaminated areas of the clothing. Anything that touches the contaminated clothing should also be placed in the bag. If you wear contacts, put them in the plastic bag, too. Seal the bag, and then seal that bag inside another plastic bag.

Disposing of your clothing in this way will help protect you and other people from any chemicals that might be on your clothes. When the local or state health department or emergency personnel arrive, tell them what you did with your clothes. The health department or emergency personnel will arrange for further disposal. Do not handle the plastic bags yourself. Dial and explain what has happened.