This document provides information about plant toxins. It defines plant toxins as secondary metabolites produced by plants that can have pharmacological or toxic effects. Plant toxins are commonly classified based on their chemistry, with some of the main classes being alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, terpenes, and others. The document discusses several specific toxic plant compounds like apiol, safrole, and myristicin, found in parsley, sassafras, and nutmeg respectively. It provides details on their toxic effects, symptoms of poisoning, and potential treatments.

1. PLANT
TOXICOLOGY
NABEELA JABEEN

2. Objectives
 Definition of plants toxin
 Difference between poison & toxin
 Classification of plant toxins
 Toxicity symptoms
 Dose
 Treatment of this toxin

3. Lecture 1

4. Definition
 Many constituents of plants elicit pharmacological or toxicological effects
in man and animals and may be classified as plant toxins.
 These are commonly secondary metabolites, i.e. they are produced
within the plant besides primary biosynthetic metabolites such as
carbohydrates and lipids.

5. Function of plants toxin
 Plant toxins fulfill important functions in living plants, for example
function
 flavanoids as free radical scavengers,
 terpenoids may attract pollinators
 alkaloids can ward off herbivore animals or insect attacks.

6. One possible way of classifying plant toxins is based on
their common chemistry and biochemistry:
 Glycosides (cardiac glycosides, cyanogenic glycosides, glucosinolates and
saponins)
 Flavanoids and proanthocyanidins
 Tannins
 Terpenes (mono-, di- and sesquiterpenoids)
 Resins
 Lignans
 Alkaloids (tropane alkaloids, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, isoquinoline alkaloids and
methylxanthine alkaloids)
 Furocoumarines and naphtodianthrones
 Proteins and peptides (e.g. ricin)

7. Toxin vs Poison
Toxin
 Toxins are small poisonous molecules,
peptides, or protein produced by plants,
animals, and other organisms like viruses,
fungi, bacteria, or protozoa.
 They can cause diseases when absorbed
by body tissues and interact with the
body’s enzymes.
 While some toxins only cause minor
discomfort and pain, some can be deadly.
Poison
 Poisons are substances that are
absorbed through the skin or gut of
organisms and causes chemical
reactions. It is used to describe any
harmful substance especially those that
are corrosive, carcinogens, and harmful
pollutants.

8. INTRODUCTION OF PLANT TOXIN
 , some phytochemical or secondary metabolites produced by plant are
toxins like substances, which are alike to extracellular bacterial toxins in
their properties and may cause problems in humans
 These have both useful and harmful effects in human beings and
animals.
 The problems are varying widely side-effect from skin irritation to thyroid
problems and neurological syndromes. .

9.  Plant toxins may enter into the body either by inhalation, swallowing or by
contact.
 The action is mainly dependent on their phytoconstituents like
 alkaloids,
 glycosides,
 proteins,
 tannins,
 volatile oils,
 terpenes, steroids etc.

10. Classification of Plant Toxins
 Plant toxins are food components of plant origin that may be low-
molecular-weight endogenous toxins or products of secondary
metabolism.
 Products of secondary metabolism are species specific and are
responsible for the particular characteristics of plant.
 They include plant pigments, flavours, and compounds that serve to
protect the plants.

11.  Some of these secondary metabolic products cause toxicity to the
individual when taken orally.
 These substances may be growth inhibitors, neurotoxins, carcinogens,
and teratogens
 These are classified based on their structural and chemical properties.
Plant toxins can be classified as follows:

12. Alkaloids
 These are organic compounds containing nitrogen in heterocyclic ring,
basic in nature and derived from amino acid,
 most of which exhibit strong physiological activity.
 For example, colchicines, nicotine, aconitine, taxine, cocaine and many
others.

13. Some common toxins from this class
include:
 Indole alkaloids: beta-carbolines like harmine active on the central
nervous system5
 Pyrrolizidine: veno occlusive disease of the liver
 Tropanes: atropine, scopolamine, hyoscyamine active on the
autonomous nerve system
 Vicine/covicine: important in G-6PD deficiency and fauvism
(haemolytic anaemia)

14.  Glycoalkaloid: The greatest worry for glycoalkaloid toxicity is its acute
toxicity.
 There have been many reported cases of human poisonings (sometimes
fatal) due to the ingestion of greened, damaged or sprouted potatoes as
a consequence of high levels of glycoalkaloid i.e. solanine

15. Glycosides
 These substances are consisting of a nonsugar moiety i.e. aglycone to
which one or more sugar chains is bound
 Cyanogenic glycosides release prussic acid.
 The cyanide ions (CN-) attach to the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase
and in this way blocks electron transport.
 The clinical symptoms of acute cyanide intoxication can include: rapid
respiration, drop in blood pressure, rapid pulse, dizziness, headache,
stomach pains, vomiting, diarrhoea, mental confusion, stupor, cyanosis
with twitching and convulsions followed by terminal coma

16.  Cardiac glycosides such as digitoxin from foxglove. Digoxin inhibits the
enzyme Na-K-ATPase. Vomiting, confusion, changes in colour
perception and in particular, cardiac arrhythmias are dominant
symptoms.
 Goitrogenic glycosides: too much ingestion and simultaneous iodine
deficiency may lead to thyroid disorders.
 Mustard seed oil glycosides: After splitting of the sugar, irritating
mustard oils were released.

17. Tannins
 These substances have the capability to precipitate proteins.
 They make the skin tough by deception of the proteins in the skin.

18. Proteins
 A number of protein toxins produced by plants enter eukaryotic cells and
inhibit protein synthesis enzymatically.
 Examples of poisonous proteins include ricin (castor plant), abrin (rosary
pea) and white acacia.
 Lathyrism occurs due to a toxic amino acid that mimics glutamate

19. Oxalic acid and oxalates
 These substances may be present in trichomes or in raphides (needle-like
structures).
 They can provoke mechanical irritation. Ingested oxalate will be
absorbed.
 Oxalate in blood binds calcium to form the insoluble calcium oxalate.
Severe hypocalcaemia with tetany can occur.

20. Anti-vitamins
 Some substances work against the vitamins,
 e.g. thiaminases in horsetails and
 bracken (breakdown of thiamine)
 anti-vitamin K such as coumarins.

21. Photosensitising and contact-
sensitising substances
 St. John’s wort with hypericin and hogweed causes photoallergy.
 Poison ivy is known in North America.
 Many of the active substances are phenols, furano- coumarins or
derivatives of these, which causes allergy to sunlight.

22. Volatile oils
 Volatile oils are liquid substances formed in special oil cells, glands, hairs,
or channels.
 They are all soluble in alcohol. At certain concentrations, some are
irritant (forming blisters) and emetic.
 Some volatile oils are nephrotoxic

23. Lecture 2

24. Higher plant toxins
 Essential oils
 Cineol
 Pine oil
 Phenyl propane
 Apiol
 Safrole
 Myristicin

25. Essential oils (Cineol)
 Eucalyptus oil is the generic name for distilled oil from the leaf
of Eucalyptus, a genus of the plant family Myrtaceae native
to Australia and cultivated worldwide.
 Eucalyptus oil has a history of wide application, as
a pharmaceutical, antiseptic, repellent, flavouring, fragrance and industria
l uses. The leaves of selected Eucalyptus species are steam
distilled to extract eucalyptus oil.

26.  TOXICTY
 If consumed internally at low dosage as a flavouring component or in
pharmaceutical products at the recommended rate, cineole-based 'oil of
eucalyptus' is safe for adults.
 However, systemic toxicity can result from ingestion or topical application
at higher than recommended doses.

27.  The probable lethal dose of pure eucalyptus oil for an adult is in the
range of 0.05 mL to 0.5 mL/per kg of body weight.
 Because of their high body surface area to mass ratio, children are more
vulnerable to poisons absorbed transdermally.
 Severe poisoning has occurred in children after ingestion of 4 mL to 5 mL
of eucalyptus oil.

28. SIGN & SYMPTOMS
 Confusion.
 Depression.
 Dilated eyes.
 Diarrhea.
 Difficulty swallowing.
 Excessive drooling.
 Lethargy.
 Loss of appetite.

29. Pine oil
 Pine oil is an essential oil obtained by the steam distillation of
stumps, needles, twigs and cones from a variety of species of pine,
particularly Pinus sylvestris
 In alternative medicine, it is said to be used in aromatherapy, as a scent
in bath oils
 Chemically, pine oil consists mainly of alpha-Terpineol or
cyclic terpene alcohols.
 It may also contain terpene hydrocarbons, ethers, and esters.

30. TOXICITY OF PINE OIL
 Pine oil has a relatively low human toxicity level, a low corrosion level and
limited persistence;
 however, it irritates the skin and mucous membranes and has been
known to cause breathing problems.
 Large doses may cause central nervous system depression.

31. SIGN & SYMPTOMS
 Eyes, ears, nose, and throat
 Difficulty swallowing
 Throat burning
 Eye burning
 Lungs
 Breathing difficulty
 Gastrointestinal
 Abdominal pain
 Diarrhea
 Nausea
 Vomiting

32.  Heart and blood circulation
 Rapid heartbeat
 Nervous system
 Unconsciousness
 Convulsions
 Dizziness

33. Treatment
 The health care provider will measure and monitor the patient's vital
signs, including temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure.
 Blood and urine tests will be done. The patient may receive:
 Endoscopy -- camera down the throat to see burns in the esophagus and
the stomach
 Fluids through a vein (by IV)

34.  Medicines to treat symptoms
 Tube through the mouth into the stomach to wash out the stomach
(gastric lavage)
 Washing of the skin (irrigation), perhaps every few hours for several days
 Skin debridement (surgical removal of burned skin)

35. Outlook (Prognosis)
 How well a patient does depends on the amount of poison swallowed
and how quickly treatment was received.
 Swallowing pine oil can have severe effects on many parts of the body.
 Usually the biggest problem is that pine oil is swallowed (aspirated) into
the lungs instead of the stomach, causing problems breathing.

36. Apiol
 The apiol is an organic chemical compound, a
phenylpropanoid extracted from the seeds and leaves of
parsley (Petrosileum hortense).
 Even in the ancient Greece, Hippocrates knew that parsley had abortive
effects.
 Plants containing apiol were also used by women in the Middle Ages to
terminate pregnancies.

37.  Coincidentally, some patients, sicked with malaria and treated with apiol,
suffered of amenorrhea (absence of menstruation).
 It was thus discovered that, among the side effects, apiol regularizes
menstruation: it was discovered a new emmenagogue.
 The apiol began to be sold by many pharmaceutical companies under
different names (Ergapiol, Apergol, Salutol)

38. Toxic effects
 Abortive effect
 Apiol increases the tone and strength of contraction, reduces the tone of
vessels and causes necrosis of placental tissue.
 The lowest dose of apiol that seems to be necessary to induce abortion is
0.9 g taken for 8 consecutive days.

39.  In the past there have been numerous cases of severe poisoning, often
fatal,
 Due to the empirical practice to use concentrated decoction of parsIey
seeds and / or leaves to induce abortion.
 The toxic dose is difficult to define, because it depends on the mode of
preparation and on the association with other substances that can
enhance the toxicity of the product.
 But the facts that patient ingestes an excedingly large dose of the drug in
a short period of time may help to enhance the severity of the symptoms.

40.  1.it reacts with cell membrane dissolving the latter;
2.Patients show a bleeding tendency associated to trombocytopenia and an
anemia partly due to blood loss and partly on a hemolytic basis.
3.Hematuria the presence of blood in urine.
4.Fatty liver and necrosis
5. demyelinating of peripheral nerves.


41. Symptoms
 In relation to the mode of intoxication (abortion attempt), most of the
subjects reach hospital at a distance of 12-24 hours or more after
ingestion of the toxin.
 The symptoms are: nausea, vomiting, abdominal distress and diarrhea
particularly in the early stages, a state of shock, massive hematuria,
metroraggia, cutaneous petechiae and other signs of severe coagulation’s
alteration.

42.  Frequently is observed hyperthermia and rapid progression to coma
associated with brain damage..
 This syndrome has usually a rapid progression and ends with a fatal
outcome. In the case of survival, the resolution of the coma and liver
damage and kidney is slow

43. Treatment
 Within a few hours of ingestion, it must be done gastric lavage.
 If the most of the toxic has already been absorbed, it is necessary to follow
very frequently the coagulative parameters
 In the presence of metroraggia, hysterectomy is deemed necessary.
 Finally it’s necessary to make dialysis for compensating the kidney failure.
 If the hemolysis is massive, the clinical can choose to performe
plasmapheresis to remove free hemoglobin and prevent kidney failure or
exsanguigno tranfusion.

44. Safrole
 Background;
 Safrole is a phenylpropene.
 It is a colorless or slightly yellow oily liquid typically extracted from the
root-bark or the fruit of sassafras plants in the form of sassafras oil
 sassafras oil made from Sassafras albidum

45. Uses
 Diuretics
 UTI treatment

46. Toxic effects
 Ingestion of sassafras oil leads to
 Vomitting
 Stupor
 Vertigo
 Pollar within 10-90 mins
 Tea preparation from root lead to sweating mucous membrane irritatent
 Cardiovascualar collapse
 Flushing of skin
spermatogenesis in mice

47. Laboratory
 Monitor fluids and electrolytes
 Both kidney and liver function
 Serum & plasma level of safrole & its metabolite

48. Treatment
 Treatment is supportive and symptomatics
 Administer IV fluids and electrolyte
 Minor flaculation does not need intervention

49. Myristicin
 Myristicin, or methoxysafrole, is the principal aromatic constituent of the
volatile oil of nutmeg, the dried ripe seed of Myristica fragrans.
 Myristicin is also found in several members of the carrot family
(Umbelliferae).
 Several intoxications have been reported after an ingestion of
approximately 5 g of nutmeg, corresponding to 1-2 mg myristicin/kg
body weight (b.w.).
 Although these intoxications may be ascribed to the actions of myristicin,
it is likely that other components of nutmeg may also be involved.

50. Sign & symptoms
 Giddiness
 Hallucination
 Feelins of depersonalization
 Drowsiness
 Delirium

51. Treatment
 Supportive treatment
 Symptoms treatment