Chapter 9 (exam 2 start) Flashcards
Most dangerous groups of Toxic Mushrooms
- Amanitas (90%)
- Little Brown Mushrooms (LBMS)
- False morels (mistaken for delicacies)
Disulfiram-like Toxins mode of action to cure
- Antabuse
- it is a drug to induce vomiting in alcoholics
- do not drink alcohol 24-48 hours within eating mushroom (before or after)
Magic mushrooms include:
- psilocybe, Panaelous, Conocybe and Gymnopilus
What are symptoms of Gyromitrin poisoning, or monomethylhydrazine (MMH)?
- causes hemolysis of red blood cells
- patients suffer from nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea, faintness, loss of muscle control and fever
- in severe cases, jaundice and convulsions, coma or death can occur after 2-7 days
How does the active principle collect in Muscimol?
- active principle collects in the urine
- Drinking urine is way to recycle inebriant
What is an Amanitin?
- highly poisonous chemical
- no legal antidote in the US
How was Nicholas Evans and his family poisoned? Who was Nicholas Evans?
- author of the horse whisperer
- poisoned after eating Cartinarius speciosissimus, which he thought was a bolete
False morels can be identified by:
- wrinkled, irregular caps
- may be black, gray, white, brown or reddish
- cap has lobes, folds or flaps, not pits and ridges like a true morel (delicacy)
- bottom edge hangs free around the stem like a skirt.
In true morels the bottom edge is attatched
What is the most common toxin of the groups
- Gastrointestinal Irritants
Highest death rates of mushroom poisoning occur with what people groups
- children less than 10 years old, the elderly and immigrants
Amanita muscaria
- fly agaric, contains muscarine and muscimol
- muscimol causes hallucinations
- muscarine has a toxic affect
How did Emperor Charles VI of Germany and his wife Tsaritsa Natalia Naryshkina die?
- believed to have died from eating the death cap mushroom
What is Muscimol?
- Psychoactive alkaloid that affects the central nervous system
- hallucinations
Amatoxin Poisoning Stage 4 of Illness
- death takes place within 6-8 days after ingestion due to liver and renal failure, cardiac damage
The genus Amanita is characterized by:
- membranous annulus (remnant of the partial veil)
- cup like volva (remnant of a universal cell)
- white gills
- white spore print
Hydrolyzed gyromitrin produces _____, used for rocket fuel, very toxic causes _____ poisoning
- MMH
- hydrazine
Amatoxins effect
- damage mammalian systems by blocking enzymes associated with RNA replication
- inhibits new cell formation
- toxins accumulate in liver
- liver digests itself
How is Muscarine poisoning treated?
- atropine
Distinguishing features of Amatoxins/Amanitas
- gilled mushrooms
- caps may be white, yellow, red or brown
Categories of mushroom toxins
- Protoplasmic poisons (death caps)
- Neurotoxins (autonomic and central nervous systems)
- Disulfiram-like toxins
- Gastrointestinal irritants
Why did Peter the Great get to ascend to the throne?
- His father, Tsar Alexis, died after eating A. phalloides
- because of this Peter ascended to the throne and changed the course of history
Types of Disulfiram-like Toxin
- Coprinus atramenarius, the Alcohol Inky
- Inky caps
- Coprinus comatus, the edible Shaggy Mane
_________ LBMS contain _____, the same toxin as amanitas, _______
- Galerina
- amatoxins
Gastrointestinal Irritant effects
- abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration
- usually after about 30 to 90 minutes of eating
- symptoms clear up spontaneously in 3-4 hours and complete recovery takes about a day or so
What are examples of Neurotoxins?
- Psilocin, metabolite of psilocybin (hallucinogenic mushrooms)
- little brown mushrooms (LBMS)
Where do amatoxins come from?
- Fungus Amanitas
Hydrazine poisoning by the gyromitrin toxin usually has an ________ response
- all or nothing
- Some people eat them and have no problem, while some people die
Why is amatoxin so dangerous?
- Extremely potent and toxic
- Even ingesting a little bit can cause liver ailments throughout life
What are examples of Amanitas?
- Amanita phalloides- death cap
2. Amanita virosa- destroying angel
Why is mushroom poisoning on the rise?
- misidentification
- popularity of mushroom foraging
- use of insecticides or herbicides on lawns or reserves
- rising interest in gourmet qualities of mushrooms
Where have there been large scale Death Cap Poisonings?
- Spotted at a market in Italy
- Among villagers in Yunnan province in China
- Californians ended up with serious liver damage and death for some, after eating them
How did Pope Clement VII die?
- excommunicated Henry VIII and then was fed A. phalloides and died
Beginner mushroom hunters should avoid all
- parasol shaped mushrooms with white gills
Hallucinogenic mushrooms were used by:
- Aztecs of Mexico
2. Central American Indians
Neurotoxins Effects
- acts on one or both
- autonomic nervous system
- central nervous system
Active compounds of Psilocin
- tryptamines, psilocybin and psilocin
What are Disulfiram-like toxins?
- Toxins that are toxic only in combinations with other substances, especially alcohol
- Mode of action like Antabuse
An edible true morel
- Morchella species
What do Protoplasmic poisons cause?
- destruction of cells
- organ failure
What are examples of mushrooms that contain Muscarine?
- Amanita muscaria
- Clitocybe
- Inocybe
(types of Little Brown and white Mushrooms)
Gastrointestinal Irritants examples
- Omphalotus illudens
- Chlorophyllum molybdites
PSL syndrome
- perspiration, salivation and lachrymation
- latent period of 30 minutes up to 6 hours before symptoms appear
Amatoxin Poisoning Stage 1 of Illness
- Latency or lag period of 10-12 hours
- toxins are absorbed through digestive system and begin to attack the kidneys and liver
What is the Gyromitrin toxin so dangerous?
- it is volatile and can be breathed in to cause illness
Amatoxin Poisoning Stage 3 of Illness
- severe gastrointestinal phase
- brief remission of symptoms 3-4 days
- jaundice sets in, renal disturbances, toxic hepatitis, liver enlarges, hemmoraging of liver
What is A. phalloides and what does it stand for?
- Amanita phalloides
- a lethal mushroom if consumed
- serious liver damage
Central nervous system
- regulates brain and spinal cord
Amatoxin Poisoning Stage 2 of Illness
- gastrointestinal phase
- severe abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, delirium, hallucinations, hypoglycemia, life-threatening deydration
How did Tiberius Claudius die?
- roman emperor
- believed to have died from eating a dish of poisonous mushrooms given to him by his wife and niece, Agrippina, who wanted her son Nero to rule
Amanitas are responsible for what percentage of fatal mushroom poisonings in the US?
- 90%
pro and con effects of hallucinogenic mushrooms
- pros: giddiness, impaired time and distance perception, marked euphoria, altered feelings and distorted perceptions of touch, sight, sound and taste
- cons: intense fear, headache as as effects subside, nausea, GIT discomfort, dizziness, anxiety, fears of insanity or losing control
Little Brown Mushrooms (LBMS) characteristics
- hard to identify
- all should be avoided
- Catchall category, small to medium size with spores of all colors
- many harmless, some midly poisonous others hallucinogenic, few deadly
Muscimol effects
- muscle spasms, dizziness, vomiting, followed by deep sleep full of fantastic dreams
- creates feeling of elation and an altered perception of reality
- few deaths associated with this poison, recovery is spontaneous within 24 hours
- few deaths from this type of poisoning, 10 or more mushrooms is a fatal dose
What is Muscarine?
- affects the autonomic nervous system
Little Brown Mushrooms are used as experimental treatment for the disorders:
- cluster headaches
- obsessive compulsive disorder
- clinical depression
Muscarine symptoms
- PSL syndrome
- stimulates exocrine glands (producers of sweat, saliva and tears)
- salivation, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pains, thirst, bloody stools, etc
- in 1% of severe cases convulsions and death
How to treat gastrointestinal irritants
- emptying the stomach, monitoring for dehydration, reduced blood pressure, impaired kidney function
Primary danger of muscarine toxin
- heart may stop, but very rare
How do hallucinogenic mushrooms work?
- Alkaloids interact with brain
- Affect nerve transmission and cause hallucinations
Two types of protoplasmic poisons
- Amatoxins
2. Gyromitrin
How can you remove Gyromitrin toxin?
- parboiling of mushroom prior to consumption
Autonomic nervous system
- regulates bodily functions such as heart rate, digestion, pupillary response, urination and arousal
What is Gyromitrin?
- Monomethyl hydrazine that acts on central nervous system
What fungi cause Gyromitrin poisoning?
- false morels
- species of Gyromitra and Helvella
How is hydrazine used?
- in jet fuels
What are Gastrointestinal irritants?
- Wide variety of undetermined toxins associated with wild mushrooms
- Most common toxin
