Aconitine - Toxic Effects

Toxic Effects

Aconitine has various toxic effects. The toxic effects have been tested in a variety of different test animals, including mammals (dog, cat, guinea pig, mouse, rat and rabbit), frogs and pigeons. Depending on the route of exposure, the observed toxic effects were: local anesthetic effect, diarrhea, convulsions, arrhythmias or death, see Table 2 for more details. According to a review of different reports of aconite poisoning in humans the following clinical features were observed:

• Neurological: paresthesia and numbness of face, perioral area and four limbs; muscle weakness in four limbs;
• Cardiovascular: hypotension, palpitations, chest pain, bradycardia, sinus tachycardia, ventricular ectopics, ventricular arrhythmias, and junctional rhythm;
• Ventricular arrhythmias;
• Gastrointestinal: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea;
• Others: dizziness, hyperventilation, sweating, difficulty breathing, confusion, headache, and lacrimation.

Progression of symptoms: the first symptoms of aconitine poisoning appear approximately 20 minutes to 2 hours after oral intake and include paraesthesia, sweating and nausea. This leads to severe vomiting, colicky diarrhea, intense pain and then paralysis of the skeletal muscles. Following the onset of life threatening arrhythmia, including ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, death finally occurs as a result of respiratory paralysis or cardiac arrest.