Leung's Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics

TOXICOLOGY

Symptoms of overdose are typical of anticho-
linergic syndrome and are known to include
acute psychosis, coma, convulsions, difficulty
swallowing and walking and impaired articu-
lation of speech, dryness of mouth, intense
thirst, difficulty in swallowing, burning pain in
the throat, dilatation of the pupils with blurred
vision and photophobia, flushing with hot and
dry skin, high fever, fast heart rate with palpi-
tations and elevated blood pressure, urge to
urinate but inability to, constipation, restless-
ness, confusion, excitement, hallucinations,
and delirium. Death may result from respira-
tory failure. Above symptoms have been de-
scribed as “blind as a bat, dry as a bone, red as
a beet, hot as a hare, and mad as a hatter”
(GOSSELIN).^7 The berries have been mistaken
for bilberries with toxic results;8,9implicated
in the death of children consuming a couple of
berries, the chief toxic principle thought to be
hyoscine.

USES

Medicinal, Pharmaceutical, and Cosmetic.
Its extracts and isolated alkaloids are widely
used in both over-the-counter and prescrip-
tion drugs, including sedatives, antispasmo-

dics in bronchial asthma and whooping

cough, cold and hay fever remedies, oph-

thalmic preparations, laxatives (to lessen

griping), suppositories for hemorrhoids, li-

niments for treatment of muscular rheuma-

tism, sciatica, and neuralgia (often with

aconite extract); also in the treatment of

Parkinson’s disease and intestinal and bili-

ary colic.

Hyoscine is used in preparations to treat

motion sickness (MERCK).

Hyoscine-containing plants have been

used for centuries in traditional Chinese

medicine as anesthetics. Hyoscine fromFlos

daturae(flowers fromDaturaspecies) has

been used as a general anesthetic in China

(JIANGSU).^10

COMMERCIAL PREPARATIONS

Available as crude and as various extracts.

Belladonna and its fluid, solid, and powdered

extracts are official in U.S.P.

Regulatory Status. Leaves and roots, calcu-

lated to specified levels of tropane alkaloids,

are the subject of a German therapeutic mono-

graph, indicated for treatment of spasms and

colic pains in the gastrointestinal tract and bile

ducts (BLUMENTHAL1).

REFERENCES

See the General References forAPhA;BLUMENTHAL1;BRUNETON;CLAUS;GOODMAN AND GILMAN;GRIEVE;
GUPTA;JIANGSU;JIXIAN;MARTINDALE;MCGUFFIN1&2;NANJING;USD26th.

1. T. Hartmann et al.,Planta Med., 52 , 390
   (1986).


2. F. Oprach et al.,Planta Med., 52 , 513
   (1986).


3. J. D. Phillipson and S. S. Handa,
   Phytochemistry, 14 , 999 (1975).


4. G. Clair et al.,C.R. Hebd. Seances Acad.
   Sci. Ser. D., 282 , 53 (1976).


5. S. A. Shvests et al.,Exp. Med. Biol., 404 ,
   475 (1996).
   6. D. Bousta et al.,J. Ethnopharmacol., 74 ,
   205 (2001).
   7. R. Jaspersen-Schib et al.,Schweiz. Med.
   Wochenschr., 126 , 1085 (1996).
   8. K. Jellema et al., Ned. Tijdschr.
   Geneeskd., 146 , 2173 (2002).
   9. H. J. Southgate et al.,J. R. Soc. Health,
   120 , 127 (2000).


6. Anon., Am.J.Chin.Med., 3 ,91
   (1975).

Belladonna 89