What does strychnine do to a human?
Exposure to high levels of strychnine may result in respiratory failure possibly leading to death, and brain death within 15 to 30 minutes following exposure. Seizures may occur within 15 minutes following exposure and generally subside 12 to 24 hours following ingestion.
Is strychnine still available?
Strychnine is currently registered for use only below-ground as a bait application to control pocket gophers. The end-use products are formulated as a grain-based bait or a paste.
Why is strychnine used in drugs?
Strychnine has been used for years as a medicinal remedy for a broad range of complaints. Strychnine is responsible for inhibiting postsynaptic glycine receptors, mostly in the spinal cord, causing painful, involuntary skeletal muscle spasms.
What is the strychnine hydrochloride chemically?
Strychnine hydrochloride is a hydrochloride obtained by combining strychnine with one molar equivalent of hydrogen chloride. It has a role as an avicide, a cholinergic antagonist, a glycine receptor antagonist, a rodenticide and a neurotransmitter agent. It is a hydrochloride and an organoammonium salt.
How strong is strychnine?
In persons killed by strychnine, the highest concentrations are found in the blood, liver, kidney and stomach wall. The usual fatal dose is 60–100 mg strychnine and is fatal after a period of 1–2 hours, though lethal doses vary depending on the individual.
How much strychnine is lethal?
Lethal doses of strychnine are generally accepted as 1 to 2 mg/kg [10], although death has been reported at lower doses, and survival has been documented with significantly higher doses [11].
What is the common name for strychnine?
Strychnos nux-vomica, the strychnine tree, also known as nux vomica, poison fruit, semen strychnos, and quaker buttons, is a deciduous tree native to India and to southeast Asia. It is a medium-sized tree in the family Loganiaceae that grows in open habitats.
Is strychnine banned?
Strychnine was used as a pesticide until 1968 and a rodenticide until 2006 when its sale was banned throughout the EU and all supplies recalled.
How long does strychnine stay in your body?
The biological half-life of strychnine is about 10 hours. This half-life suggests that normal hepatic function can efficiently degrade strychnine even when the quantity ingested is high enough to cause severe poisoning.
Is strychnine a performance enhancer?
When ingested, strychnine causes muscular convulsions before death through asphyxia. Those convulsions had been thought to be beneficial in tiny doses in the past, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was used in small doses as an athletic performance enhancer, and recreational stimulant.
What does strychnine feel like?
Immediate signs and symptoms of strychnine exposure Apprehension or fear. Ability to be easily startled. Restlessness. Painful muscle spasms possibly leading to fever and to kidney and liver injury.
How do you detect strychnine?
Strychnine can be detected in urine and serum using gas chromatography nitrogen phosphorus detection (GC-NPD) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry techniques (GC/MS). Strychnine is detected in food and environmental samples through capillary electrophoresis (MEKCS) with UV-detection after solid phase extraction.
What is strychnine hydrochloride made of?
More… Strychnine hydrochloride is a hydrochloride obtained by combining strychnine with one molar equivalent of hydrogen chloride. It has a role as an avicide, a cholinergic antagonist, a glycine receptor antagonist, a rodenticide and a neurotransmitter agent. It is a hydrochloride and an organoammonium salt. It contains a strychnine (1+).
What is the biological half-life of strychnine?
The biological half-life of strychnine is about 10 hours. This half-life suggests that normal hepatic function can efficiently degrade strychnine even when the quantity ingested is high enough to cause severe poisoning.
What is the mechanism of action of strychnine?
Strychnine is a neurotoxin which acts as an antagonist of glycine and acetylcholine receptors. It primarily affects the motor nerve fibers in the spinal cord which control muscle contraction.
What are the side effects of strychnine?
Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eyes or mouth, causes poisoning which results in muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia. While it has no known medicinal effects, in the past the convulsant effect was believed to be beneficial in small doses.