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Echites Umbellatus
''Echites umbellatus'' is a flowering climber, belonging to subfamily Apocynoideae of the family Apocynaceae and has the English common name devil's potato. It was first described in 1760 by Dutch botanist, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. The species grows in parts of Florida, Tabasco, Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Colombian islands in the Western Caribbean. It is a perennial with white flowers and is toxic., containing lycopsamine-type pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Disease associated with consumption of PAs is known as pyrrolizidine alkaloidosis and many such alkaloids exhibit hepatotoxicity i.e. can cause severe liver damage, including hepatic veno-occlusive disease and liver cancer They are also tumorigenic Carcinogenesis, also called oncogenesis or tumorigenesis, is the formation of a cancer, whereby normal cells are transformed into cancer cells. The process is chara ...
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Nikolaus Joseph Von Jacquin
Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin (16 February 172726 October 1817) was a scientist who studied medicine, chemistry and botany. Biography Born in Leiden in the Netherlands, he studied medicine at Leiden University, then moved first to Paris and afterward to Vienna. In 1752, he studied under Gerard van Swieten in Vienna. Between 1755 and 1759, Jacquin was sent to the West Indies, Central America, Venezuela and New Granada by Francis I to collect plants for the Schönbrunn Palace, and amassed a large collection of animal, plant and mineral samples. In 1797, Alexander von Humboldt profited from studying these collections and conversing with Jacquin in preparation of his own journey to the Americas. In 1763, Jacquin became professor of chemistry and mineralogy at the Bergakademie Schemnitz (now Banská Štiavnica in Slovakia). In 1768, he was appointed Professor of Botany and Chemistry and became director of the botanical gardens of the University of Vienna. For his work ...
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Apocynoideae
Apocynoideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Apocynaceae (order Gentianales). It contains about 78 genera with roughly 860 species. Several genera are of pharmacological interest - notably those - such as Strophanthus - which have furnished highly effective arrow poisons, due to their cardiac glycoside content. The subfamily includes many species with flowers of considerable ornamental value, the best-known of which is ''Nerium oleander'', the familiar Oleander. It also contains the remarkable pachycaul genera ''Adenium'' and ''Pachypodium''. Genera Gallery File:Adenium-obesum-001.jpg, ''Adenium obesum'' File:Aganonerion polymorphum.jpg, '' Aganonerion polymorphum'' File:Aganosma cymosa G.Don.jpg, ''Aganosma cymosa'' File:Alafia caudata subsp. latiloba S-1653.jpg, '' Alafia caudata'' subsp. latiloba File:Amphineurion marginatum (Roxb.) D.J.Middleton Apocynaceae (26195863217).jpg, '' Amphineurion marginatum'' File:Beaumontia grandiflora (1).jpg, '' Beaumontia ...
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Apocynaceae
Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the family are native to the European, Asian, African, Australian, and American tropics or subtropics, with some temperate members. The former family Asclepiadaceae (now known as Asclepiadoideae) is considered a subfamily of Apocynaceae and contains 348 genera. A list of Apocynaceae genera may be found here. Many species are tall trees found in tropical forests, but some grow in tropical dry (xeric) environments. Also perennial herbs from temperate zones occur. Many of these plants have milky latex, and many species are poisonous if ingested, the family being rich in genera containing alkaloids and cardiac glycosides, those containing the latter often finding use as arrow poisons. Some genera of Apocynaceae, such as '' Adenium'', bleed clea ...
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Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), sometimes referred to as necine bases, are a group of naturally occurring alkaloids based on the structure of pyrrolizidine. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are produced by plants as a defense mechanism against insect herbivores. More than 660 PAs and PA N-oxides have been identified in over 6,000 plants, and about half of them exhibit hepatotoxicity. They are found frequently in plants in the Boraginaceae, Asteraceae, Orchidaceae and Fabaceae families; less frequently in the Convolvulaceae and Poaceae, and in at least one species in the Lamiaceae. It has been estimated that 3% of the world’s flowering plants contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Honey can contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, as can grains, milk, offal and eggs. To date (2011), there is no international regulation of PAs in food, unlike those for herbs and medicines. Unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids are hepatotoxic, that is, damaging to the liver. PAs also cause hepatic veno-occlusive disea ...
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Pyrrolizidine Alkaloidosis
Pyrrolizidine alkaloidosis is a disease caused by chronic poisoning found in humans and other animals caused by ingesting poisonous plants which contain the natural chemical compounds known as pyrrolizidine alkaloids.''The Merck Veterinary Manual''. Pyrrolizidine Alkaloidosis: Introduction (Seneciosis, Senecio poisoning, Ragwort toxicity). Merck & Co., Inc., 2008. Web. 15 November Pyrrolizidine alkaloidosis can result in damage to the liver, kidneys, heart, brain, smooth muscles, lungs, DNA, lesions all over the body, and could be a potential cause of cancer.Rizk, Abdel-Fattah M., ''Naturally Occurring Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids''. Doah: CRC Press, 1990 Pyrrolizidine alkaloidosis is known by many other names such as "Pictou Disease" in Canada and "Winton Disease" in New Zealand.Hirono, I. ''Naturally Occurring Carcinogens of Plant Origin''. Toyoake: Elsevier, 1987 Cereal crops and forage crops can sometimes become polluted with pyrrolizidine-containing seeds, resulting in the ...
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Hepatotoxicity
Hepatotoxicity (from ''hepatic toxicity'') implies chemical-driven liver damage. Drug-induced liver injury is a cause of acute and chronic liver disease caused specifically by medications and the most common reason for a drug to be withdrawn from the market after approval. The liver plays a central role in transforming and clearing chemicals and is susceptible to the toxicity from these agents. Certain medicinal agents, when taken in overdoses (e.g. paracetamol) and sometimes even when introduced within therapeutic ranges (e.g. halothane), may injure the organ. Other chemical agents, such as those used in laboratories and industries, natural chemicals (e.g., microcystins), and herbal remedies (two prominent examples being kava, mechanism unknown, and comfrey, through its pyrrolizidine alkaloid content) can also induce hepatotoxicity. Chemicals that cause liver injury are called hepatotoxins. More than 900 drugs have been implicated in causing liver injury (see LiverTox, exter ...
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Liver
The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it is located in the quadrant (anatomy), right upper quadrant of the abdomen, below the thoracic diaphragm, diaphragm. Its other roles in metabolism include the regulation of Glycogen, glycogen storage, decomposition of red blood cells, and the production of hormones. The liver is an accessory digestive organ that produces bile, an alkaline fluid containing cholesterol and bile acids, which helps the fatty acid degradation, breakdown of fat. The gallbladder, a small pouch that sits just under the liver, stores bile produced by the liver which is later moved to the small intestine to complete digestion. The liver's highly specialized biological tissue, tissue, consisting mostly of hepatocytes, regulates a w ...
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Food And Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, caffeine products, dietary supplements, Prescription drug, prescription and Over-the-counter drug, over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), cosmetics, Animal feed, animal foods & feed and Veterinary medicine, veterinary products. The FDA's primary focus is enforcement of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C), but the agency also enforces other laws, notably Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act, as well as associated regulations. Much of this regulatory-enforcement work is not d ...
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Bad Bug Book
The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN ( )) is the branch of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that regulates food, dietary supplements, cosmetics, drugs, biologics, medical devices, and radiological products. Area of regulation "Food" within the context of FDA is a very broad term with some limitations. Products that contain meat are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, with the exception of seafood and some exotic meats. The regulation of eggs is similarly complicated by shared responsibilities between the two agencies. Many other federal and state agencies have some overlapping or conflicting requirements for regulation of food products. For example, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates levels of allowable contaminants in public drinking water, where the FDA regulates bottled water. Regulation of food also includes food additives such as preservatives and art ...
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Hepatic Veno-occlusive Disease
Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) or veno-occlusive disease with immunodeficiency is a potentially life-threatening condition in which some of the small veins in the liver are obstructed. It is a complication of high-dose chemotherapy given before a bone marrow transplant and/or excessive exposure to hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. It is classically marked by weight gain due to fluid retention, increased liver size, and raised levels of bilirubin in the blood. The name sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) is preferred if hepatic veno-occlusive disease happens as a result of chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation. Apart from chemotherapy, hepatic veno-occlusive disease may also occur after ingestion of certain plant alkaloids such as pyrrolizidine alkaloids (in some herbal teas), and has been described as part of a rare hereditary disease called ''hepatic venoocclusive disease with immunodeficiency'' (which results from mutations in the gene coding for a protein call ...
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Liver Cancer
Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to the liver, known as liver metastasis). Liver metastasis is more common than that which starts in the liver. Liver cancer is increasing globally. Primary liver cancer is globally the sixth-most frequent cancer and the fourth-leading cause of death from cancer. In 2018, it occurred in 841,000 people and resulted in 782,000 deaths globally. Higher rates of liver cancer occur where hepatitis B and C are common, including Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Males are more often affected with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than females. Diagnosis is most frequent among those 55 to 65 years old. The leading cause of liver cancer is cirrhosis due to hepatitis B, hepatitis C or alcohol. Other causes include aflatoxin, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease ...
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