PHAR 300 Lecture 17: PHAR 300 - lecture 17
11 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Most ppl associate tox with synthetic industrial waste sites but in reality, more plants are also toxic/poisonous. Biological toxins produced by animals and plants = defense system. Many plants and animals have evolved toxins to target the nachr (defense or attack) There are 6 toxins that target this r including agonists and antagonists: agonists: nicotine (tobacco, insecticide), epibatidine (from ecuadorean frog) and anatoxin (blue-green algae, antagonists: alpha-cobratoxin (snake), methyllycaconitine (larkspur plant), alpha-conotoxin (sea conus snail) Daffodils are resistant to squirrels and mice bc they contain a variety of toxins galanthamine (major), ca oxalate crystals and lycorine: galanthamine = competitive inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase. Acts at the synapse to inhibit the breakdown of ach. Other plant toxins include: taxine, scopolamine, ricin and atropine. Lily of the valley = spring flower containing cardiac glycosides (there is a sugar portion in the molecule and the main site of action is the cardiac muscle but the toxin can affect other cells)
