Biomaterial Database

Hemlock water dropwort poisoning. 1987

M J Ball, and M L Flather, and J C Forfar

Department of Chemical Pathology, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, UK.

Severe plant poisoning is relatively uncommon in adults. We report two adults who ingested hemlock water dropwort roots, having mistaken them for wild parsnip. One developed prolonged convulsions, severe metabolic acidosis and respiratory distress requiring mechanical ventilation. The toxin--oenanthotoxin--was detected in the gastric aspirate and measured by high performance liquid chromatography.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D010939	Plant Poisoning	Poisoning by the ingestion of plants or its leaves, berries, roots or stalks. The manifestations in both humans and animals vary in severity from mild to life threatening. In animals, especially domestic animals, it is usually the result of ingesting moldy or fermented forage.	Poisoning, Plant,Plant Poisonings,Poisonings, Plant
D005233	Fatty Alcohols	Usually high-molecular-weight, straight-chain primary alcohols, but can also range from as few as 4 carbons, derived from natural fats and oils, including lauryl, stearyl, oleyl, and linoleyl alcohols. They are used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents, plastics, and lube oils and in textile manufacture. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 5th ed)	Fatty Alcohol,Alcohol, Fatty,Alcohols, Fatty
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D000480	Alkynes	Hydrocarbons with at least one triple bond in the linear portion, of the general formula Cn-H2n-2.	Acetylenic Compounds,Alkyne,Acetylenes
D014118	Toxins, Biological	Specific, characterizable, poisonous chemicals, often PROTEINS, with specific biological properties, including immunogenicity, produced by microbes, higher plants (PLANTS, TOXIC), or ANIMALS.	Biological Toxins
D053281	Enediynes	Compounds with triple bonds to each side of a double bond. Many of these are CYTOTOXINS and are researched for use as CYTOTOXIC ANTIBIOTICS.	Enediyne Group