Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0017160 (gastroenteritis)
 11,398 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Castor beans (Ricinus communis) contain ricin. Ricin is a glycoprotein reported to cause hypotension, gastroenteritis, depression, and death. However, few deaths are reported following castor bean ingestion in animals. From January 1987 to December 1998, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-National Animal Poison Control Center received 98 incidents of castor bean ingestion in dogs. The most commonly reported clinical signs were vomiting, depression, and diarrhea. Death or euthanasia occurred in 9% of the cases. The severity of clinical signs following castor bean ingestion may depend on whether the beans were chewed or swallowed whole.
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PMID:Evaluation of castor bean toxicosis in dogs: 98 cases. 1082 94

Two adult dogs with the same owner were intoxicated by ingestion of fertilizer composed of residual plant material of the castor bean plant (Ricinus communis L.). Both dogs died within 2 and 3 days, respectively, after the first signs of vomiting and abundant hemorrhagic diarrhea. Toxicologic and histopathologic examinations were performed on different organs. Histopathologic examination of the kidneys revealed tubular degeneration and necrosis and membranous glomerulonephritis. Additionally, myocardial degeneration with localized inflammation, lymphoid necrosis, and depletion in the spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes and hemorrhagic ulcerative gastroenteritis were found. The 2 cases could be used to elucidate the lethal dose of ricin and the histopathologic lesions in dogs.
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PMID:Lethal ricin intoxication in two adult dogs: toxicologic and histopathologic findings. 2045 30

Castor beans, sometimes used in traditional therapies, contain ricin one of the most toxic substances known. It may cause an acute and potentially fatal gastroenteritis in addition to neurological and ophthalmological lesions. Poisoning may also lead to delayed visceral damages; however, the latter is quite rare. The toxicity is dose related and depends on the amount of castor beans ingested. There is no specific treatment and symptomatic management to reduce the load of the toxin needs to be initiated quickly and early when a case of poisoning is suspected so that serious complications will be avoided. Increasing the awareness of the population to the dangers of ricin would be a way to avoid the utilisation of castor seeds in traditional therapies. Here we are reporting a case of mild poisoning after ingestion of a single castor bean. The patient, who presented at Nizwa Hospital, Oman, fortunately recovered completely as the ingested dose was quite small.
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PMID:A case of castor bean poisoning. 2165 63