Ergot ergotism

Historians have noted that many of the behaviors described for accused "witches and their purported victims during the Salem witch trials period of American history resemble signs of ergotism. Ergotism is caused by a mixture of naturally occurring ergot alkaloids, not methy-... 

Ergotism Ergot alkaloid poisoning with symptoms such as hallucinations. 

In addition to ergot, ergot alkaloids occur in some higher plants. For example, derivatives of D-lysergic and D-isolysergic acids were isolated from the seeds of beach moonflower Ipomoea violacea) and the related Christmas vine Turbina corymbosa (Convolvulaceae). The seeds of beach moonflower were used traditionally among Mexico s Zapotec Indians for ceremonial and curative purposes. 

A base, formed by the bacterial degradation of histidine, and present in ergot and in many animal tissues, where it is liberated in response to injury and to antigen-antibody reactions. If injected it causes a condition of shock with dilatation of many blood vessels, loss of plasma from the capillaries to the tissues and a rapid fall in blood pressure. It is normally prepared from protein degradation products. 

The disease takes two different forms depending apparently on whether ergotoxia, the alkaloid ia ergot, attacks predomiaantiy the aervous or the circulatory system. The former coaditioa is characterized by severe coavulsive seizures the latter produces an iatense burning and itching of the skin called St. Anthony s Fire. 

There are currently two medicinally valuable alkaloids of commercial import obtained from ergot. Commercial production involves generation parasiticaHy on rye in the field or production in culture because a commercially useful synthesis is unavailable. The common technique today (65) is to grow the fungus in submerged culture. Clavicepspaspali (Stevens and Hall) is said to be more productive than C. purpurea (Fries). In this way, ergotamine (100,... 

Several chemical compounds may cause inflammation or constriction of the blood vessel wall (vasoconstriction). Ergot alkaloids at high doses cause constriction and thickening of the vessel wall. Allylamine may also induce constriction of coronary arteries, thickening of their smooth muscle walls, and a disease state that corresponds to coronary heart disease. The culprit is a toxic reactive metabolite of allylamine, acrolein, that binds covalently to nucleophilic groups of proteins and nucleic acids in the cardiac myocytes. 

For the detection of the ergot alkaloids 0.2 g o-phthalaldehyde in 100 ml cone, sulfuric acid ( ) [15] or buffer solution is employed as spray solution. Cysteine [11, 12, 15, 19] or sulfurous acid [17] is occasionally substituted for mercapto-ethanol. 

Poisoning by ergot still occurs occasionally in countries where rye is extensively used as a food grain or where ergotised grain is liable to be fed to cattle and methods for its detection have been devised, but interest in the analysis of ergot centres chiefly on the estimation of the active alkaloids in the crude drug or its preparations. The methods used may... 

For detailed information on ergot the late Professor G. Barger s monograph 11931) should be consulted. ... 

Isolation of Ergot Alkaloids. In the papers already quoted (refs. 6 to 19) the processes used for the isolation of the total alkaloids and the separation of the component bases are given to those may be added references to methods by other authors. There are also numerous patented processes, some of which are quoted in the following special sections. 

---