Alcohol
G. Hussein Rassool in Alcohol and Drug Misuse, 2017
Initially small amounts of alcohol produce a feeling of relaxation, euphoria and the individuals experience less inhibition. Both thinking processes and motor functions are slightly impaired. At a higher level of consumption, there is cognitive, perceptual and behavioural impairment and these changes are proportional to the amount of alcohol consumed. This may include slurred speech, poor co-ordination, unsteady gait, uncontrolled movement of the pupils (nystagmus), poor judgment, insomnia, hangover and blackouts. Blackout is a memory impairment that occurs in anyone who drinks large amount of alcohol in one session. The lethal dose of alcohol is generally related to body size and physiology. Death can occur from high consumption of alcohol or withdrawal from alcohol. Chronic alcohol use may result in significant memory problems and cognitive impairment.
Bioactive Compounds in Coffee: Health Benefits of Macronutrients and Micronutrients
Megh R. Goyal, Durgesh Nandini Chauhan in Assessment of Medicinal Plants for Human Health, 2020
Caffeine is a safe thermogenic agent for weight control. The short-term lethal dose of caffeine is about 5–10 g per day [in IV or oral]. Five to ten gram of caffeine per day is equivalent to consumption of 75 cups of coffee, 125 cups of tea, 200 cola drinks. Only slight changes were not significant in blood pressure and pulse after consuming 100 mg and 200 mg of caffeine. Furthermore, at a dose of 400 mg, caffeine will significantly increase the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of about 6.3 mmHg. A dose of 250 mg of caffeine taken orally will increase blood pressure by 10 mmHg after 1 h of caffeine consumption. A dose of 400 mg of caffeine will also significantly increase the side effects of palpitation, anxiety, dizziness, lack of fit, ringing ears. According to previous studies on the chronic effects of caffeine consumption of 150 mg per day for 7 days, caffeine tolerance occurs after 1–4 days. Therefore, there are no long-term effects of caffeine on blood pressure, heart rate, plasma renin activity. In addition, there was no significant change in heart rate after consuming 4 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight as much as 5 times per day. Thus, caffeine is relatively safe, although in acute consumption it will alter cardiovascular variables and chronic consumption has little or no effect on health.9
Cholinergic Antagonists
Sahab Uddin, Rashid Mamunur in Advances in Neuropharmacology, 2020
Nicotine poisoning, especially in children, may result from an unintended intake of nicotine-containing insecticide sprays or chewing tobacco products. Severe lethal dose of nicotine in adults is about 60 mg of the base and tobacco smoke contains about 6–11 mg (1–2%) of nicotine. It appears that the absorption of nicotine from tobacco is delayed during tobacco chewing due to slow gastric emptying leading to vomiting and removal of tobacco from GIT. The symptoms of acute and severe nicotine poisoning appear quickly. It is characterized by nausea, increased salivary secretions, abdominal ache, vomiting, diarrhea, cold sweat, headache, vertigo, dizziness, impaired hearing, balance and vision, mental confusion, and weakness. These symptoms can be overcome by vomiting, gastric lavage, or by the administration of adsorbents like activated charcoal slurry through a tube in the left side of stomach and maintenance of respiration (Brunton et al. 2011).
Characteristics of emergency department presentations following ingestion of Taxus baccata (yew)
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2023
Vanessa Alexandra Buetler, Alexandra Maria Braunshausen, Stefan Weiler, Jolanta Klukowska-Rötzler, Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos, Evangelia Liakoni
The toxicity of Taxus baccata is mediated by two major taxine alkaloids, taxine A and taxine B, that are mainly present in all parts of the plant with the exception of the berries [1,3–7]. The cardiotoxic effects are mostly induced by taxine B and presentations following ingestion can range between asymptomatic cases and life-threatening cardiotoxicity [5,8]. Ingestion of about 50–100 g yew leaves (corresponding to 0.6–1.3 g yew leaves/kg body weight, or 3–6.5 mg taxines/kg body weight, or more than 100 leaves) can be lethal [4,6,9]. However, the exact lethal dose is unknown. The amount of the taxines absorbed can vary with several factors, including the preparation of the material (higher if leaves minced or mashed before ingestion than with untreated leaves) as well as the season of the year (higher taxine concentrations in the plant during winter) [4,10]. First signs of intoxication can be non-specific, such as nausea, emesis and abdominal pain [4]. In severe intoxications, cardiotoxicity can occur, mediated through inhibition of sodium and calcium channels, with potentially fatal outcome [5,6,8,9]. The diagnosis is mainly based on the patient’s history or identification of leaves in the gastrointestinal tract, while detection of specific alkaloids with mass spectrometry can also be used for confirmation [1,6,11]. Treatment is focused on decontamination measures and supportive care, and there is no known antidote available [4,12].
Phosgene: toxicology, animal models, and medical countermeasures
Published in Toxicology Mechanisms and Methods, 2021
Stephen T. Hobson, Richard A. Richieri, Missag H. Parseghian
Although phosgene will react with water to produce hydrochloric acid and carbon monoxide (t1/2 = 0.26 s) (Environmental Protection Agency 2003), its low solubility in water significantly reduces the rate of the reaction and its rapid hydrolysis mitigates the reaction with the mucus layer manifesting its presence with moderate irritation in the upper airways (Borak and Diller 2001). The lack of immediate symptoms combined with the lack of alarming odor characteristics exacerbates the toxicity of phosgene as many that are exposed are not immediately aware of their peril (Bast and Glass-Mattie 2020). Those exposed to a sub-lethal dose can suffer chronic symptoms causing a long-term burden to health care systems and the economy. Three years after phosgene exposure in WWI, 83 British soldiers were examined and despite 53% of the men having no physical lung abnormalities, they exhibited shortness of breath (70%), cough with expectoration (54%), a tight feeling in the chest (25%), sporadic giddiness (14%) and nausea (12%) (Sandall 1922; Bast and Glass-Mattie 2015). These factors have led to extensive research into the mechanisms of toxicity, development of appropriate animal models for research, and efforts toward efficient treatments and therapeutics for phosgene exposure.
Effect of Tangeritin Against Cyclophosphamide-Induced Toxicity in the Larvae of Transgenic Drosophila melanogaster (hsp70-lac Z) Bg9
Published in Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2018
Ambreen Fatima, Saba Khanam, Smita Jyoti, Falaq Naz, Rahul, Tanveer Beg, Yasir Hasan Siddique
CP was used alone at 20 µM of food concentration and with 20, 40, and 80 µM of tangeritin. The third instar larvae were allowed to feed on the diet having the desired concentration of CP, tangeritin, and both, and the larvae were harvested after 48 h for performing various parameters. The method of dose selection was based on the procedure described by Lorke (1983). The assessment of the lethal dose (LD50) (i.e., the dose at which 50% of test animals die) is a major parameter in measuring acute toxicity and is a general screening parameter of chemical and pharmacological agents for toxicity. The larvae were exposed to 40, 80, 120, and 160 µM of CP mixed in diet initially for calculating the LD50. After 24 h of exposure, the live and dead larvae were counted. Fifty percent mortality was observed at 80 µM, which was taken as LD50, and one-fourth of LD50 was used as the dose in this study. Similarly, for tangeritin, the larvae were exposed to 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, and 500 µM of tangeritin mixed with the diet. After counting the live and dead larvae, 50% mortality was observed at 350 µM after 24 h of exposure. The highest selected dose of tangeritin used in the present study was less than one-fourth of LD50.
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