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Toxalbumins

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Critical Care Toxicology

Abstract

Toxalbumins are complex proteins found in certain plant species that are toxic when ingested, inhaled, or administered parenterally. The most common plants containing toxalbumins are Ricinus communis, Abrus precatorius, and Robinia pseudoacacia. Although R. communis and A. precatorius concentrate the toxin within their seeds, the toxic lectins of R. pseudoacacia are found in the bark, seeds, leaves, and roots of the plant. The toxalbumins are summarized in Table 1. The primary toxins in these plants are ricin, abrin, and robin. They are classified as ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIP) and will be described in further detail later in the chapter.

The findings and conclusions in this chapter are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emergency Medicine & Medical Toxicology, Kaweah Delta Medical Center, University of California, Irvine, Visalia, CA, USA

    Jennifer A. Oakes

  2. National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, 30341, USA

    Richard Y. Wang

Authors
  1. Jennifer A. Oakes
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Correspondence to Jennifer A. Oakes .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Toxicology Associates, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Jeffrey Brent

  2. Office of New Drugs Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

    Keith Burkhart

  3. Clinical Toxicology, St Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom

    Paul Dargan

  4. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Toxicology Associates, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Benjamin Hatten

  5. Med & Toxicological Intensive Care Unit, Lariboisière Hospital Paris-Diderot University, Paris, France

    Bruno Megarbane

  6. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Toxicology Associates, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Robert Palmer

Grading System for Levels of Evidence Supporting Recommendations in Critical Care Toxicology, 2nd Edition

  1. I

    Evidence obtained from at least one properly randomized controlled trial.

  2. II-1

    Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization.

  3. II-2

    Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies, preferably from more than one center or research group.

  4. II-3

    Evidence obtained from multiple time series with or without the intervention. Dramatic results in uncontrolled experiments (such as the results of the introduction of penicillin treatment in the 1940s) could also be regarded as this type of evidence.

  5. III

    Opinions of respected authorities, based on clinical experience, descriptive studies and case reports, or reports of expert committees.

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Oakes, J.A., Wang, R.Y. (2016). Toxalbumins. In: Brent, J., Burkhart, K., Dargan, P., Hatten, B., Megarbane, B., Palmer, R. (eds) Critical Care Toxicology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20790-2_98-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20790-2_98-2

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  1. Latest

    Toxalbumins
    Published:
    01 September 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20790-2_98-2

  2. Original

    Toxalbumins
    Published:
    11 May 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20790-2_98-1

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