Patients frequently come to the emergency department or contact a poison center following exposure to plants. These cases are often challenging owing to difficulty in correct identification of the involved plant. A case of two patients who demonstrated anticholinergic syndromes after ingesting an unknown, wild plant is described. Chemical analysis of two suspect plants collected in the same location allowed a probable diagnosis of poisoning from ingestion of henbane (Hyoscyamus niger).

Atropine↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Phytochemical screening of some Rocky Mountain plants.

Fifty-four species of plants from 36 genera and 21 families were collected in the mountains and high plains of northern Colorado. Extracts were tested for alkaloids, cytotoxicity, antitumor activity and IP toxicity in mice. A few were tested for insect attractant or deterrent properties. Alkaloids were found in 23 species, 15 showed cytotoxicity, and 27 exhibited IP toxicity. Four extracts showed insect deterrent properties, and three proved to attractant. None of the extracts showed useful antitumor activity. High alkaloid content and/or activity in several of the screens can be used to identify species and genera worthy of detailed phytochemical investigation.

Alkaloids↗

PubMedDate not supplied

3-Methoxy-5-hydroxyflavonols from Tillandsia purpurea.

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Antiviral Agents↗

PubMedDate not supplied

(-)-delta-N-normethylskytanthine from Tecoma arequipensis.

Bark of Tecoma arequipensis yielded the major alkaloidal component (-)-delta-N-normethylskytanthine whose structure was proven by X-ray diffraction analysis of the N-thiourea derivative. The stereochemistry of 1 at all four centers was enantiomeric with that of skytanthine previously reported from Tecoma stans and Skytanthus acutus. Gc-ms of the crude base fraction indicated the presence of several related alkaloids as very minor constituents.

Alkaloids↗