Ricin bean

Other Lethal Agents. There are a number of substances, many found in nature, which are known to be more toxic than nerve agents (6). None has been weaponized. Examples of these toxic natural products include shellfish poison, isolated from toxic clams puffer fish poison, isolated from the viscera of the puffer fish the active principle of curare "heart poisons" of the digitaUs type the active principle of the sea cucumber active principles of snake venom and the protein ricin, obtained from castor beans (See Castor oil). 

Ricin (toxin from Castor bean Ricinus communis) [A chain 96638-28-7 B chain 96638-29-8] Mr -60,000, amorphous. Crude ricin, obtained by aqueous extraction and (NH4)2S04 pptn, was chromatographed on a galactosyl-Sepharose column with sequential elution of pure ricin. The second peak was due to ricin agglutinin. [Simmons and Russell Anal Biochem 146 206 1985.) Inhibitor of protein synthesis. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, USE EXTREME CARE [instructions accompany product]. 

Ricinus, m. castor-oil plant, -ijl, n. castor oil. -(ilsaure, /. ricinoleic acid. -Slseife, /. caator-soap, -olsulfosaure, /. castor-oil sulfonic acid, -samen, m. castor bean, -saure, /. ricinic (ricinoleic) acid, -seife, /. castor-oil soap. 

Ricin, an extremely toxic molecule isolated from the castor bean, inactivates eukaryotic 28S tibosomal RNA by providing the N-glycolytic cleavage or removal of a single adenine. 

Fredriksson, S. Hulst, A. G. Artursson, E. de Jong, A. L. Nilsson, C. van Baar, B. L. Forensic identification of neat ricin and of ricin from crude castor bean extracts by mass spectrometry. Anal. Chem. 2005, 77,1545-1555. 

Delayed-action cytotoxin that inhibits protein synthesis (ribosomal inactivating protein) that is obtained from castor beans (Ricinus communis). Waste from production of castor oil contains about 5% ricin by weight. It is a white powder that is soluble in water and relatively heat stable. Aqueous solutions are resistant to chlorine at 10 ppm. It is persistent in the environment. 

CDC Case Definition A clinically compatible case with (1) detection of urinary ricinine, an alkaloid in the castor bean plant or (2) detection of ricin in environmental samples. The case can be confirmed if laboratory testing is not performed because either a predominant amount of clinical and nonspecific laboratory evidence is present or an absolute certainty of the etiology of the agent is known. 

The discovery in January 2003 of remnants of ricin, castor beans, and recipes for a half dozen other chemical and biological weapons in the London apartments of terrorists aligned with al Qaeda,... 

Castor oil is derived from the castor plant Ricinus communis). The castor plant has a long and rich history of uses in human society. The oil from the plant is non-digestible, and is commonly known to be a medicinal purgative. The castor bean contains the protein ricin, a substance that is famously toxic in humans [50]. The lack of food value from the castor plant coupled with the issues of toxicity inherent in extraction of ricin has mostly limited the use of castor oil to the industrial sector. 

DETAILS Ricin is a toxic protein extracted from the castor bean seed. This bush is a common sight in the southwest United States where it can be found growing wild or cultivated as an ornamental shrub. The seeds are contained in a small spiny green seed pod about 5/8 inch in diameter. This pod is split open to reveal three small hard seeds. 

Lectin toxicity - nausea, diarrhea, headache, confusion, dehydration, death Wisteria, castor bean (Ricinus communis) Lectins bind to cell surfaces Ricin - blocks protein synthesis, very toxic, 5 to 6 beans can kill a child... 

Other approaches to induce gastrointestinal discomfort have far more serious toxic effects. The chemical colchicine stops cell division (an antimitotic), producing severe nausea, vomiting, and dehydration, which can lead to delirium, neuropathy, and kidney failure. On the other hand, colchicine is used in the treatment of gout and has been studied as an anticancer agent because it stops cell division. Most toxic of all are plants that produce lectins, and the most toxic of these is the chemical ricin produced by castor beans. Only 5 to 6 seeds are necessary to kill a small child. Fortunately, following oral consumption much of the ricin is destroyed in the stomach. Ricin is extremely effective at stopping protein synthesis, so much so that direct exposure to only 0.1 pg/kg can be fatal. 

Ricin toxin— Ricinus communis (castor beans)... 

Ricin is a potent cellular protein toxin contained in the beans of the castor been plant (Ricinus communis), which is extensively cultivated for oil production and is also a common ornamental garden plant. Ricin is able to inhibit ribosomal protein synthesis eventually causing cell death, and owing to these properties it has been allegedly used in terrorist and criminal activities. After trypsin digestion of castor bean crude extracts, Ostin et al. [105] were able to unambiguously... 

Ricin (toxin from Castor bean [Ricinus communis]) [96628-29-8]. Crude ricin, obtained by... 

Several other inhibitors of protein synthesis are notable because of their toxicity to humans and other mammals. Diphtheria toxin (Mr 58,330) catalyzes the ADP-ribosylation of a diphthamide (a modified histidine) residue of eukaryotic elongation factor eEF2, thereby inactivating it. Ricin (Afr 29,895), an extremely toxic protein of the castor bean, inactivates the 60S subunit of eukaryotic ribosomes by depurinating a specific adenosine in 23S rRNA. 

Ricin toxin— Ricinus communis (castor beans) B Castor beans About 8 h Unlikely Standard Fever, N, Cough, chest discomfort, resp difficulty, joint pain, progressing to pulm edema and resp failure Typically fatal w/in 72 h Primarily supportive Tx pulm edema... 

Abrin, from jequirity beans (Abrus precatorius), resembles ricin so closely in its action that the difference was established only when it was noted that immunity against one did not constitute immunity against the other. 

Extracts from the castor bean can be used to isolate ricin, an extremely potent poison that is one of the leading candidates for use by terrorists. Ricin is a large-molecule, heterogeneous protein. A chemical marker for ricin is the hydrolysis product alkaloid ricinine, shown in Figure 19.2. 

The natural chemical ricin, which occurs in the castor bean, is a deadly poison and it takes only one molecule to kill a cell. Its first action on encountering a cell is to bind to a carbohydrate on the cell surface and wait. It doesn t have to wait for long before the cell decides to investigate and takes the ricin molecule inside it thereby seals its fate. The ricin migrates to the only site in the cell where proteins are made and once there it blocks it. Eventual cell death is ensured. The deadly toxin released by E.coli Oiff. Hj plays a similar trick to gain access to cells. Viruses also dock onto external carbohydrates and the influenza virus is particularly good at doing this. But what Nature does, humans can also do, and we can do it to defeat these natural enemies. 

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