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Anticholinergics Syndrome Related to Plants and Herbs

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Clinical Toxinology in Asia Pacific and Africa

Part of the book series: Toxinology ((TOXI,volume 2))

Abstract

Anticholinergic poisoning is one of the typical toxidromes. Plant tropane alkaloids – atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine – are the common causes of this toxidrome when they enter the human body through GI absorption and/or skin contact. Because the toxins mimic to the essential neurotransmitter acetylcholine, they cause antagonist effects on the parasympathetic nerves with specific receptors that control mucous secretion, sweating, and heart rate. The plants that containing tropane alkaloids are Solanaceae, such as Atropa, Datura, and Mandragora, with the distribution to the individual plant and the ratio of toxins different from species to species. Although the clinical presentations may be slightly different, the antidotes of all the intoxications are physostigmine. Decontamination and supportive care may be required.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Toxicology, Trauma and Emergency Center, China Medical University Hospital, No. 2 Yu-Der Road, Taichung, 40447, Taiwan

    Dong-Zong Hung & Yu-Han Hung

  2. Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung, 404, Taiwan

    Dong-Zong Hung

  3. Faculty of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Yu-Han Hung

Authors
  1. Dong-Zong Hung
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  2. Yu-Han Hung
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dong-Zong Hung .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Venom and Toxin Research Programme Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    P. Gopalakrishnakone

  2. Professor of Medicine (Rtd), Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Abul Faiz

  3. Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Ravindra Fernando

  4. Department of Clinical Medicine Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Christeine Ariaranee Gnanathasan

  5. Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit Department of Medicine, Bayero University Kano Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria

    Abdulrazaq Garba Habib

  6. Department of Medicine, School of Medicine National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chen-Chang Yang

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Hung, DZ., Hung, YH. (2015). Anticholinergics Syndrome Related to Plants and Herbs. In: Gopalakrishnakone, P., Faiz, A., Fernando, R., Gnanathasan, C., Habib, A., Yang, CC. (eds) Clinical Toxinology in Asia Pacific and Africa. Toxinology, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6386-9_44

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