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Ingestion of castor oil plant seeds
Author(s) -
Aplin Philip J,
Eliseo Tony
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1997.tb125050.x
Subject(s) - ricin , ingestion , toxicity , castor oil , toxicology , ricinus , biology , acute toxicity , medicine , botany , toxin , biochemistry
Ingestion of seeds of the castor oil plant is rare, and may cause toxicity but rarely death. The presumed toxic component is ricin, a highly potent cellular poison. We report the case of a young adult who ingested a large number of the seeds, causing initial toxicity, but with subsequent full recovery. The management of such ingestions and the apparent discrepancy between the extreme toxicity of ricin and the generally milder toxicity of ingested seeds are discussed.