Strychnine toxicity

Vanderkop, M. A. 1993. Strychnine toxicity in livestock. Canadian Veterinary Journal - Revue Veterinaire Canadienne, 34 124. 

Strychnine is a very poisonous substance, and its lethal dose for humans is in the range of 0.03—0.1 g. Therefore, a single seed of vomica may be lethal. On the other hand, the toxicity ofbrucine is about 1/20 to 1/30 that of strychnine. As a symptom of strychnine toxicity, typical convulsions occur. This convulsion caused by strychinine is repeated by slightly stimulating the bodies of experimental animals. 

Tests with animals have revealed that dioxin is one of the most toxic substances known Toward mice it IS about 2000 times more toxic than strychnine and about 150 000 times more toxic than sodium cyanide Fortunately however available evidence in dicates that humans are far more resistant to dioxin than are test animals and so far there have been no human fatalities directly attributable to dioxin The most prominent short term symptom seen so far has been a severe skin disorder known as chloracne Yet to be determined is the answer to the question of... 

A comparative investigation has been made by Amanii et al. of strychnine and some of its derivatives for toxicity, taking strychnine nitrate as standard and equal to 1. The following results were obtained —... 

Strychnine is a toxic alkaloid. It should only be handled with gloves and under no circumstances should it be ingested. 

The convulsant alkaloid strychnine from the Indian tree Strychnos nux vomica is highly toxic. Strychnine... 

Paquin in 1948 found that a strongly exothermic reaction occurred when 40% formaldehyde was added to a solution of sulfamide in 25% aqueous ammonia. At once beautiful crystals precipitated they were recrystallized from 96% alcohol to give a compound, C5H10N4SO2, mp 224-225 "C, in 88% yield.245 From the similar character to hexamethylenetetramine, he named this product pentamethylenetetramine sulfone it is 225. One year later, in 1949, Hecht and Henecka at Bayer research laboratory reported that a condensation product from one mole of sulfamide in strong mineral acid and two moles of formaldehyde showed very strong toxicity and was five times more toxic than strychnine. They called this product (226) tetra-methylenedisulfotetramine. 246... 

Many people believe that organic or natural psychedelics such as peyote, magic mushrooms and marijuana are safer or produce better trips than synthetic compounds. This is almost certainly false, since any plant material contains hundreds of compounds, many of which have a definite toxicity, but few of which have psychedelic properties (they tend to make you sick, not stoned). The various impurities or the additives (e.g., amphetamine, belladona, strychnine) sometimes found in synthetic preparations are probably no more toxic than many of the compounds found in the psychedelic plants, and like these compounds, such additives or impurities probably have relatively little effect on the trip. 

A new effective metal-ffee radical approach by Murphy et al generates the free radical by treatment with tetrathiafulvalene (TTF).1491 As depicted in scheme 16 the aromatic amine 79 is transformed into the diazonium salt 81 which on treatment with TTF leads to the radical 82. The following stereoselective cyclization gives the hexahydrocarba-zole scaffold 80, a substructure of alkaloids like aspi-dospermidin, strychnin and vinblastin. Also the non-toxic tris(trimethylsilyl)silane was employed for domino reactions, eg. for the preparation of the alkaloid aspidospermidin. 

Note (i) Strychnine must be handled with gloves on as it is a very toxic alkaloloidal substance and under no condition it should be ingested,... 

So, in a way, it is with quinine, known (29) since antiquity as a potent antimalarial. For chemists, the use of quinicine in 1854 in the first resolution of a racemate (1,3) marks a milestone Stereochemistry as we know it today made its debut in that year. In resolutions, quinine and its diastereomers proved to be safe to handle (compare the extreme toxicity of brucine or strychnine with that of quinine), versatile in their applications, and available in reasonably pure form. Little wonder that even today, 131 years after its first use as a resolving agent, quinine (and brucine) continues to be the chemical of choice when one is attempting a new resolution of a racemic acid (90). 

Many birds such as sparrows, blackbirds, rice birds, grackles, and cowbirds can cause heavy loss of grain in rice fields. Because the use of poisoned baits in some countries is often restricted by law or popular opinion, the information presented does not constitute a recommendation on any specific chemical. The use of strychnine-poisoned rough rice (17, 18, 25) against blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds, and English sparrows, wherever the use of poison is permitted, can be effective. Many other toxic chemicals will kill these birds however, domestic poultry and game bird species are relatively much less susceptible to strychnine than to other toxic materials. Therefore, we have in strychnine a fairly effective selectivity which other toxic materials do not offer. 

Rice PJ, Drewes CD, Klubertanz TM, et al. 1997. Acute toxicity and behavioral effects of chlorpyrifos, permethrin, phenol, strychnine, and 2,4-dinitrophenol to 30-day-old Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes). Environ Toxicol Chem 16 696-704. 

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