{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T11:02:56Z","timestamp":1777892576834,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,1]],"date-time":"2020-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1583020800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Although we are familiar with common British plants that are poisonous, such as Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade) and Aconitum napellus (monkshood), the two most poisonous plants in the British Flora are Oenanthe crocata (dead man's fingers) and Cicuta virosa (cowbane). In recent years their poisons have been shown to be polyacetylenes (n-C2H2). The plants closely resemble two of the most common plants in the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), celery and parsley. Unwittingly, they are ingested by naive foragers and death occurs very rapidly. The third plant Anamirta derives from South-East Asia and contains a powerful convulsant, picrotoxin, which has been used from time immemorial to catch fish, and more recently to poison Birds of Paradise. All three poisons have been shown to block the \u03b3-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system in the human brain that normally has a powerful inhibitory neuronal action. It has also been established that two groups of sedative drugs, barbiturates and benzodiazepines, exert their inhibitory action by stimulating the GABA system. These drugs are the treatments of choice for poisoning by the three vicious plants.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4997\/jrcpe.2020.121","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,10]],"date-time":"2020-06-10T07:08:38Z","timestamp":1591772918000},"page":"80-86","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Three Poisonous Plants (\n                    <i>Oenanthe<\/i>\n                    ,\n                    <i>Cicuta<\/i>\n                    and\n                    <i>Anamirta<\/i>\n                    ) That Antagonise the Effect of \u0393-Aminobutyric Acid in Human Brain"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"50","author":[{"given":"Michael R","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Emeritus Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Estela","family":"Dukan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Librarian, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Iain","family":"Milne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Head of Heritage, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-jrcpe.2020.121","volume-title":"The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World","author":"Roberts J","year":"2005"},{"key":"bibr2-jrcpe.2020.121","unstructured":"Hyam R, Pankhurst R. Oenanthe crocata. Plants and Their Names: A Concise Dictionary Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1995. p. 349."},{"key":"bibr3-jrcpe.2020.121","volume-title":"Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated Guide to More Than 180 Plants That Cure Disease and Relieve Pain","author":"Graves G","year":"1990"},{"key":"bibr4-jrcpe.2020.121","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/emj.19.5.472"},{"key":"bibr5-jrcpe.2020.121","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15563650902904332"},{"key":"bibr6-jrcpe.2020.121","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/pgmj.63.739.363"},{"key":"bibr7-jrcpe.2020.121","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3109\/15563657809150012"},{"key":"bibr8-jrcpe.2020.121","unstructured":"Frohne D, Pf\u00e4nder HJ. Cicuta virosa. In: A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants 2nd ed. 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