Atropa Belladonna and Scopolamine

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Atropa Belladonnaand Scopolamine

• Michelle Pryce
• Chemistry 211
• 13 June 2008

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Atropa belladonna

• Scopolamine is derived from the Atropa belladonna
  plant.
• This plant is commonly known as the Deadly
  Nightshade.
• The plant is a perennial herbaceous plant that
  can grow to over 5m in height.

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Atropa Belladonna

• The leaves are dull, but shiny green. They are
  similar in texture to poison ivy.
• It produces purple, bell-shaped flowers.
• The flowers then produce shiny black, sweet
  berries.

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Atropa Belladonna

• Atropa belladonna also goes by the following
  other names dwale, banewort, devil's cherries,
  naughty man's cherries, divale, black cherry,
  devil's herb, great morel, and dwayberry.

• The plant is native to Central and Southern
  Europe, North Africa, and Southwest Asia, it and
  has been successfully cultivated in North and
  South America as well as parts of Russia.
• It is considered one of the deadliest plant in
  the Western Hemisphere.

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Toxicity of Atropa Belladonna

• Atropa belladonna is one of the most toxic plants
  found on Earth.
• Children have been poisoned by eating as few as
  three berries.
• Ingestion of a leaf of the A. belladonna can be
  fatal to an adult.
• The root of the plant is generally the most toxic
  part of the plant. Belladonna leaves, if handled
  carelessly, can cause pus filled blisters on the
  hands.

• Symptoms of A. belladonna poisoning include
  dilated pupils and blurred vision.
• Also included are husky voice, hallucinations,
  loss of balance, a feeling of flight, staggering,
  a sense of suffocation, paleness followed by a
  red rash, flushing, extremely dry throat,
  constipation, tachycardia, urinary retention, and
  confusion.

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Historic Uses of A. belladonna

• Belladonna is Italian for beautiful lady and
  was used cosmetically for hundreds of years.
• Belladonna was used by women in order to dilate
  the pupils.
• This produced a dreamy, intoxicated state that
  was considered the epitome of beauty at one time.
• However, repeated use caused fuzzy vision and
  eventually blindness.

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Medicinal uses of A. belladonna

• Atropine
• Used in ACLS protocol for symptomatic
  bradycardia.
• Used to reverse effects of nerve agent in
  chemical poisoning.
• Used to treat organo-phosphate poisoning.
• Used by ophthalmologists for pupil dilation in
  eye exams.

• Scopolamine
• Used to treat nausea and vomiting.
• Used to treat motion sickness and vertigo.
• Used to treat IBS, enterocolitis, and duodenal
  ulcers to stop intestinal spasms.
• Used in cold/flu medicines to help dry up excess
  mucus

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Folklore and historical references

• Some of the first anesthetics, dating back to the
  days of Pliny the Elder (1st century AD), were
  derived from the Atropa family of plants.
• Witches Brew
• A tea made from the leaves of the plant produce
  hallucinations in which the drinker thinks he
  thinks he is flying.
• Devils Cherries
• According to folklore, the devil has exclusive
  right to use the plant in any form.
• Anyone who uses the plant without the devils
  permission will be visited and killed by the
  devil.

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Historical references

• In Homers Odyssey, Circes transformation of
  Odysseus fellows into pigs is attributed to
  hallucinations caused by A. belladonna.
• Belladonna is the plant that poisoned the troops
  of Marcus Antonius during the Parthian wars.
• According to the History of Scotland (1582),
  Macbeth poisoned an entire army with a drink
  containing an infusion of belladonna and alcohol.

• Juliet of Romeo and Juliet took an infusion of
  belladonna to produce her death-like sleep.
• Mentioned in Little Women as a sleeping aid.
• Mentioned in the movies The Nightmare Before
  Christmas, Perfect Stranger, Robocop 2, and
  Practical Magic as ways to sedate or kill a
  nemesis and in the TV shows CSI and House as a
  way to commit criminal activities.

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Scopolamine

• The name Scopolamine is derived from Dr. J A
  Scopoli, a chemist, naturalist, and instructor of
  chemistry and metallurgy, who isolated some
  beneficial properties of A. belladonna while
  working in Slovenia in the 1750s and 1760s.
• Dr. Scopoli was also a physician who was assigned
  to treat miners in the mines of Slovenia.

• He was trying to isolate a cure for mercury
  poisoning when he isolated the derivative of
  scopolamine.
• He did not find a cure form mercury poisoning,
  however, scopolamine is a very useful drug.
• Today, it is used medicinally for treatment of
  motion sickness, gastrointestinal cramping, and
  recovery from anesthesia and surgery.

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Other uses of scopolamine

• 1940-1960s- used by obstetrics in combination
  with morphine a to produce a tranquilized
  twilight sleep for mothers in labor.
• Used in 1950s by CIA and others in Project
  MKULTA, as an interrogation drug.
• Used in 1950s and 60 in Asthmador, a drug to
  treat asthma and bronchitis.
• Used up to 1990 as OTC sleep aid.
• Used today illegally as date rape drug in
  Colombia and Thailand.