Castor bean poisoning

Accidental Castor Oil Seed Poisoning in Saudi Children

“…9,11 Most early reports of castor oil seed poisoning cited a very gloomy outcome, even after ingestion of a few seeds. 2,5,7 However, in spite of ingesting up to ten seeds, none of our five children died.…”

“…Thus, we share Rauber and Wedin's view, that, though castor oil seed poisoning can be fatal, with current management techniques the outcome is much better than that reported previously. 9,11 Because ingestion of castor oil seed is associated with high morbidity, we recommend that: 1. Toxic hazards of this plant should be made know to the public.…”

“…These observations agree with those of others. 7,9,11,12 Treatment is essentially symptomatic and consists of early gastrointestinal decontamination with syrup of ipecac or gastric lavage and oral administration of activated charcoal, and fluid replacement using appropriate strengths of dextrose-saline solutions (orally or intravenously). Treatment of all our patients was based on these two principles.…”

Medical management of Ricin poisoning

“…Patients usually complain of colicky abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, severe heart burn 5 . Hematemesis and malena may also occur.…”

Silica-Immobilized Enzyme Reactors

“…Ricin is an irreversible inhibitor that functions as a glycosidase and inactivates ribosomes so specifically that fewer than ten castor oil beans is sufficient for severe cytotoxicity and potential fatality. [113,114] As such, ricin and other neurotoxins also find application as terrorist threat agents. [115] The integration of an IMER with a detection system may therefore lead to the development of a biosensor but IMERs are essentially bioreactors rather than biosensors as the biological component is distinct from the physical transducer.…”