The history of poisoning: from ancient times until modern ERA

Abstract

The history of poisoning is one of the greatest chapters of the human history, where curiosity and genius, scientific discoveries and empirical knowledge intertwine with intrigues, crimes, politics, personal tragedies of notabilities, wars and natural disasters. Knowledge of toxic substances is likely as old as the mankind. In the Middle Age, Paracelsus claimed that in the world there is no non-toxic substance that the therapeutic and toxic properties of substances are indistinguishable up to a single parameter-dose. This postulate still belongs among the basic pillars of modern toxicology. Probably, the most ancient way of killing people was poisoning. In addition, the presence of poison in the body of the victim was very difficult to determine, since the symptoms of poisoning were similar to signs of certain diseases. Therefore, the criminals had a big chance to escape the punishment. Nowadays, together with development of toxicology the chance of disclosure of such crimes has increased, however, the progress in the field of design and production of toxic substances has also gone up. Within current contribution we have reviewed the most famous historical cases of poisoning from the antiquity to the present.

Acetylcholinesterase: The “Hub” for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Chemical Weapons Convention

“…The overstimulation may trigger a series of symptoms represented by the acronym SLUDGEM (Salivation, Lachrimation, Urination, Defecation, Gastrintestinal disturbs, Emesis, Myosis, and Muscle spasms) which illustrates the clinical effects. Acute exposure may be fatal due to the respiratory failure resulting from the continuous stimulation of neuromuscular junctions at diaphragm, as described earlier in this paper [6,14,19,20,53,54,150]. Classic (G-and V-Series) and "Novichok" nerve agents (Figures 1-4) listed in the CWC in its Schedule 1, Part A, are example compounds.…”

“…A short timeline of events using chemical warfare agents and the CWC can be devised. Although OPCW has made efforts throughout years to eliminate CW, which have granted it the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 [1,2,6,68], the world has witnessed their recurrent use in conflicts or terrorism (Chart 1). From pharmacological and toxicological points of view, the biological targets of classical (G-and V-) and "Novichok" nerve agents are the cholinesterases, a class of enzymes involved in a myriad of biological processes, such as respiration, cognition, and drug metabolism.…”

“…A short timeline of events using chemical warfare agents and the CWC can be devised. Although OPCW has made efforts throughout years to eliminate CW, which have granted it the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 [1,2,6,68], the world has witnessed their recurrent use in conflicts or terrorism (Chart 1).…”

Are we facing NOVICHOK nerve agent threat?

“…It has been confirmed that two women splashed a victim with a nerve agent, which subsequently died. 3,4 Although these two incidents are probably two the most popular in the media, other inconvenient people were attacked in the same way in the past. For example -the attack of a secret agent in the sect, who investigated the Aum Shinrikyo, using the VX agent (Osaka, Japan, 1994), or the attack on Russian banker Ivan Kivelidi and his secretary probably also by an analogue of VX agent (Moscow, Russia, 1995).…”

“…With regard to the type of chemical warfare agent, its effectiveness and spreading intimidation, it seems to be the most probable abuse of chemical warfare agent, as witnessed by two recent attacks in Malaysia and the UK. 3,4 What do we know about the Novichok till now? Novichok is not a single substance -one derivative.…”