Rosary pea ingestion: no testing needed

A. precatorius seeds 2.5 out of 5 stars A Case of Abrin Toxin Poisoning, Confirmed via Quantitation of L-Abrine (N-Methyl-L-Tryptophan) Biomarker. Wooten JV et al. J Med Toxicol 2014 Feb 13 [Epub ahead of print] Abstract The decorative rosary pea or jequirity pea (Abrus precatorius) contains the toxin abrin, a protein that inhibits the function of mRNA, leading to impaired protein synthesis and cell death. The mechanism is quite similar to that of the toxin ricin, found in castor beans. This case report describes a 22-month-old girl who ingested approximately 20 rosary peas. She appeared asymptomatic until she started vomiting 6 hours after ingestion and was brought to hospital. Exam and basic laboratory work-up were negative except for evidence of dehydration (tachycardia and increased urine specific gravity.) The child was treated with fluids and ondansetron. She did well and was discharged the next day. This unremarkable case hardly seems worthy of writing up. The hook is that the medical team sent a sample of the child’s urine to the CDC, where analysis detected a urine abrin concentration of 726 ng/mL. The authors claim that this case describes “the first application of a previously developed clinical assay for the quantitative detection of L-abrine.” Straining for relevance, the authors further claim that “this method is ideally suited for rapid screening of suspected abrin-exposed individuals in the even of a mass abrin exposure and public he...
Source: The Poison Review - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Medical abrin jequirity pea rosary pea Source Type: news