Strychnos toxifera by Koehler 1887

This page is about the plant toxins. For the DC Comics character, see Curare. Strychnos Toxifera (Curare) from Koehlers Medicinal-Plants 1887 Source: List of Koehler Images. ... Strychnos Toxifera (Curare) from Koehlers Medicinal-Plants 1887 Source: List of Koehler Images. ... DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company. ... Curare Curaré (voiced by Melissa Disney) was a female villain appearing as a foe of Terry McGinnis in the animated television series Batman Beyond. ...

Curare is not to be confused with Curara. Binomial name F.Muell. ...

Curare is a common name for various dart poisons (arrow poisons) originating from South America. The three main types, or families of curare are: // Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting. ...

• the tubocurare (also known as tube or bamboo curare, because of its packing into hollow bamboo tubes; main toxin is D-tubocurarine). It is a mono-quaternary alkaloid, an isoquinoline derivative.
• the calebas curare (also called "gourd curare" by older British classifications, being packed into hollow gourds; main toxins are alloferine and toxiferine)
• and the pot curare (packed in terra cotta pots; main toxins are protocurarine, protocurine, and protocuridine).

Of these three families, some formulas belonging to the calebas curare are the most toxic, relative to their LD₅₀ values. Tubocurarine chloride is a competitive neuromuscular blocker, used to paralyse patients undergoing anaesthesia. ... Chemical structure of ephedrine, a phenethylamine alkaloid An alkaloid is, strictly speaking, a naturally occurring amine produced by a plant,[1] but amines produced by animals and fungi are also called alkaloids. ... Isoquinoline (also benzo[c]pyridine)is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound. ... Alcuronium is a peripherally acting muscle relaxant in the curare alkaloid family. ... Terra cotta is a hard semifired waterproof ceramic clay used in pottery and building construction. ... An LD50 test being administered In toxicology, the LD50 or colloquially semilethal dose of a particular substance is a measure of how much constitutes a lethal dose. ...

History

In 1596 Sir Walter Raleigh mentioned the arrow poison in his book Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of Guiana (now Guyana). It is possible that the poison he described was not curare at all.^[1] The deadly effects of various Amazonian plant mixtures called curare were learned by early european explorers. In 1800, Alexander von Humboldt gave the first western account of how the toxin was prepared from plants by Orinoco River natives.^[2] This article is about the sixteenth-century explorer. ... // Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting. ... The skull and crossbones symbol (Jolly Roger) traditionally used to label a poisonous substance. ... An 1859 portrait of Alexander von Humboldt by the artist Julius Schrader, showing Mount Chimborazo in the background. ...

During 1811-1812 Sir Benjamin Collins Brody (1783-1862) experimented with curare ^[3] He was the first to show that curare does not kill the animal and the recovery is complete if the animal’s respiration is maintained artificially. In 1825 Charles Waterton (1783-1865) (who gained fame by riding a captured alligator) described a classical experiment in which he kept a curarized she-ass alive by artificial ventilation with a bellows through a tracheostomy.^[4] Waterton is also credited with bringing curare to Europe.^[5] Robert Hermann Schomburgk, who was a trained botanist, identified the vine as one of the Strychnos species and gave it the now accepted name Strychnos toxifera.^[6] Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, 1st Baronet Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, 1st Baronet (June 9, 1783—October 21, 1862) was an English physiologist and surgeon who pioneered research into bone and joint disease. ... Respiration is a term used for the words in both biochemistry and physiology, and may refer to: Cellular respiration, the process in the chemical bonds of energy-rich molecules such as glucose are converted into energy usable for life processes. ... Charles Waterton (June 3, 1782 - May 27, 1865) was an English naturalist and explorer. ... For other uses, see Alligator (disambiguation). ... A medical ventilator is a device designed to provide mechanical ventilation to a patient. ... Tracheotomy is a surgical procedure used to cut a hole in the trachea through which a small tube is inserted. ... Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk (June 5, 1804 - March 11, 1865), British traveller, was born at Freiburg, Prussian Saxony, the son of a Protestant minister. ... Species about 190 Strychnos is a genus of flowering plants, belonging to family Loganiaceae. ...

George Harley (1829-1896) showed in 1850 that curare (wourali) was effective for the treatment of tetanus and strychnine poisoning.^[7][8] From 1887 the Burroughs Wellcome catalogue listed under its 'Tabloids' brand name, tablets of curare at 1/12 grain (price 8 shillings) for use in preparing a solution for hypodermic injection. In 1914 Henry Hallett Dale (1875-1968) described the physiological actions of acetylcholine.^[9] After twenty-five years he showed that acetylcholine is responsible for neuromuscular transmission which can be blocked by curare.^[10] Tetanus is a medical condition that is characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. ... Strychnine (pronounced (British, U.S.), or (U.S.)) is a very toxic (LD50 = 10 mg approx. ... Sir Henry Hallett Dale (June 9, 1875 - July 23, 1968) was an English scientist. ... The chemical compound acetylcholine, often abbreviated as ACh, was the first neurotransmitter to be identified. ... Electron micrograph showing a cross section through the neuromuscular junction. ...

The most known and historically important toxin (because of its medical applications) is d-tubocurarine. It was isolated from the crude drug (from a museum sample of curare) in 1935 by Harold King (1887-1956) of London, working in Sir Henry Dale’s laboratory. He also established its chemical structure.^[11] It was introduced into anesthesiology in the early 1940s as a muscle relaxant for surgery. Curares are active (i.e. toxic or muscle relaxing, dependent on the intention of their use) only if given/applied parenterally, that is, by an injection, or direct wound contamination by poisoned dart/arrow tip. It is harmless if taken orally^[12] because curare compounds are too large and too highly charged to pass through the lining of the digestive tract to get absorbed into the blood. This is crucial, because the native tribes use curares mainly for hunting purposes, thus the curare-poisoned prey must remain safe to eat. In medicine, curare has been superseded by a number of curare-like agents (pancuronium, an alkaloid-like substance with steroidal skeleton in its molecule), that have a similar pharmacodynamic profile but with fewer side effects. Curare has also been used historically as a paralyzing poison by South American indigenous people. The prey is killed by asphyxiation as the respiratory muscles are unable to contract resulting in apnea. Tubocurarine chloride is a competitive neuromuscular blocker, used to paralyse patients undergoing anaesthesia. ... Sir Henry Hallett Dale (June 9, 1875 - July 23, 1968) was an English scientist. ...

Pharmacological properties

Curare is an example of a non-depolarizing muscle relaxant (aka, competitive antagonist) which blocks the nicotinic receptors, one of the two types of cholinergic (acetylcholine) receptors on the post synaptic membrane of the neuromuscular junction. Curare does not occupy the agonist position, but likely binds within the channel pore. A muscle relaxant is a drug which decreases the tone of a muscle. ... Nicotinic Receptors form ion channels present in the plasma membrane of cells. ... An acetylcholine receptor (abbreviated AChR) is an integral membrane protein that responds to the binding of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine by opening a pathway in the membrane for the diffusion of ions across the cell membrane. ... A neuromuscular junction is the junction of the axon terminal of a motoneuron with the motor end plate, the highly-excitable region of muscle fiber plasma membrane responsible for initiation of action potentials across the muscles surface. ... Agonists An agonist is a substance that binds to a receptor and triggers a response in the cell. ...

Curare and anaesthesia

Isolated attempt to use curare during anesthesia dates back to 1912 by Arthur Lawen of Leipzig.^[13] But curare came to anesthesia via psychiatry (electroplexy). In 1939 Abram Elting and Bennett used it to modify metrazol induced convulsive therapy.^[14] Muscle relaxants are used in modern anesthesia for many reasons, such as providing optimal operating conditions and facilitating intubation of the trachea. Before muscle relaxants, anesthesiologists needed to use larger doses of the anesthetic agent, such as ether, chloroform or cyclopropane to achieve these aims. Such deep anaesthesia risked killing patients that were elderly or had heart conditions. The source of curare in the Amazon was first researched by Richard Evans Schultes in 1941. Since the 1930s, it was being used in hospitals as a muscle relaxant. He discovered that different types of curare called for as many as 15 ingredients, and in time helped to identify more than 70 species that produced the drug [1]. Psychiatry is a branch of medicine dealing with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of the mind and mental illness. ... Metrazol is the commercial trademark of pentetrazol, pentamethylenetetrazol, or pentylenetetrazol (PTZ), a drug used as a circulatory and respiratory stimulant (another commercial name is Cardiazol). ... Convulsive therapy is the deliberate and controlled induction of a seizure or other disturbance of brain function for the purpose of psychiatric treatment. ... In medicine, a muscle relaxant is a drug that causes skeletal muscle contraction to cease. ... Anesthesia or anaesthesia (see spelling differences) has traditionally meant the condition of having the perception of pain and other sensations blocked. ... Ether is the general name for a class of chemical compounds which contain an ether group — an oxygen atom connected to two (substituted) alkyl or aryl groups — of general formula R – O–R.[1] A typical example is the solvent and anesthetic diethyl ether, commonly referred to simply as ether... R-phrases , , , S-phrases , Flash point Non-flammable U.S. Permissible exposure limit (PEL) 50 ppm (240 mg/m3) (OSHA) Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ... Molecule structure formula of cyclopropane Cyclopropane is a cycloalkane molecule with the molecular formula C3H6 consisting of three carbon atoms linked to each other to form a ring, with each carbon atom bearing two hydrogen atoms. ... A muscle relaxant is a drug which decreases the tone of a muscle. ...

On January 23, 1942, Dr. Harold Griffith and Dr. Enid Johnson gave a synthetic preparation of curare (Intracostin/ Intocostrin) to a patient undergoing an appendectomy (to supplement conventional anesthesia). Curare (d-tubocurarine) is now not used for anesthesia and surgery as better drugs are now available. When used with halothane d-tubocurarine can cause profound fall in blood pressure in some patients as both the drugs are ganglion blockers. ^[15]. However, it is safer to use d-tubocurarine with ether. Anesthesia or anaesthesia (see spelling differences) has traditionally meant the condition of having the perception of pain and other sensations blocked. ... Halothane vapour is an inhalational general anaesthetic. ... A ganglionic blocker is a type of medication which inhibits postganglionic transmission, primariliy by acting as a nicotinic antagonist, for example hexamethonium, pentolinium, mecamylamine, trimetaphan and pempidine. ... This article is about the chemical compound. ...

In 1954, a sensational article was published by Beecher and Todd suggesting that the use of muscle relaxants (drugs similar to curare) increased death due to anesthesia nearly six fold. This has been completely disproved.^[16] In medicine, a muscle relaxant is a drug that causes skeletal muscle contraction to cease. ... Anesthesia or anaesthesia (see spelling differences) has traditionally meant the condition of having the perception of pain and other sensations blocked. ...

Modern anaesthetists have at their disposal a variety of muscle relaxants for use in anaesthesia. The ability to produce muscle relaxation independently from anaesthesia has permitted anaesthesiologists to adjust the two effects separately as needed to ensure that their patients are safely unconscious and sufficiently relaxed to permit surgery. However, because the muscle relaxants have no effect on consciousness, it is possible, through error or accident, that a patient may remain fully conscious and sensitive to pain during surgery, but unable to move and thus unable to alert attending staff to their state of awareness. In medicine, a muscle relaxant is a drug that causes skeletal muscle contraction to cease. ...

Plants from which primary components of curare can be extracted

• Strychnos toxifera
• Chondrodendron tomentosum

Synonym

Curare. Woorari. Woorara. Woorali. Wourali. Wouralia. Ourare. Ourari. Urari. Uirary

External link

• Charles Waterton's book Wanderings in South America Free version
• Neuromuscular blocking drugs: discovery and development

References

• Foldes, F.F. "Anesthesia before and after curare", Anasthesieabteilung des Albert-Einstein-College of Medicine. Anaesthesiol Reanim, 1993, 18(5):128-31. (retrieved June 20 2005)
• James, Mel. "Harold Griffith",Heirloom Series, Volume 6. (retrieved June 20 2005)
• "Curare", Blue Planet Biomes, 2000. (retrieved September 27 2005)
• Smith, Roger. "Cholernergic Transmission", (retrieved March 13, 2007)
• Strecker G J et al. "Curare binding and the curare-induced subconductance state of the acetylcholine receptor channel.", Biophysical Journal 56: 795-806 (1989).(retrieved May 12, 2007)

1. ^ Carman J. A. Anaesthesia 1968, 23, 706.
2. ^ Plant Trivia TimeLine
3. ^ Phil. Trans. 1811, 101, 194; 1812, 102, 205.
4. ^ From Arrow Poison to Surgical Muscle Relaxant
5. ^ Reprinted in "Classical File", Survey of Anesthesiology 1978, 22, 98.
6. ^ Waterton and Wouralia. British Journal of Pharmacology (1999) 126, 1685–1689
7. ^ Paton A. Practitioner 1979, 223, 849
8. ^ George Harley
9. ^ Dale H. H. J. Pharmac. Exp. Ther. 1914, 6, 147.
10. ^ Dale H. H. Br. Med. J. 1934, 1, 835
11. ^ King H. J. Chem. Soc. 1935, 57, 1381; Nature, Lond. 1935, 135, 469.
12. ^ From Arrow Poison to Surgical Muscle Relaxant
13. ^ Lawen A. Beitr. klin. Chir. 1912, 80, 168.
14. ^ Bennett A. E. J. Am. Med. Ass. 1940, 114, 322
15. ^ Mashraqui S. Hypotension induced with d-tubocurarine and halothane for surgery of patent ductus arteriosus. Indian Journal of Anaesthesia. 1994 Oct; 42(5): 346-50
16. ^ Beecher H. K. and Todd D. P. Ann. Surg. 1954, 140, 2 (reprinted in "Classical File", Survey of Anesthesiology 1971, 15 , 394, 496).