Death due to kodalikkizhangu poisoning: A case report


Case Report

Author Details : Narayanan S , Ramalingam S*, Narendar R

Volume : 9, Issue : 2, Year : 2022

Article Page : 86-90

https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijfcm.2022.019



Suggest article by email

Abstract

Deaths due to accidental ingestion, suicidal consumption and homicide poisoning with colchicine alkaloid containing extracts have been documented and reported in innumerable literature across the world. The lowest reported lethal dose of oral colchicine are 7-26 mg. Gloriosa superba, regionally known as Kodalikkizhangu is a highly poisonous flowering plant, seen wide spread in south and south East Asia. Colchicine is concentrated in the seeds and tubers of the plant. Colchicine content of Gloriosa tuber is 0.3%. These tubers are often mistaken as yams and accidentally ingested. Ingestion of tubers of Gloriosa results in colchicine poisoning. Toxicity of Gloriosa is due to the anti-mitotic effect of its toxic principle namely colchicine and Gloriosin on the rapidly proliferating cells such as stomach and oesophagus. Cardiac manifestation of Gloriosa poisoning is due to the impaired cardio myocyte conduction and contractility. Deaths in these cases are due to multi-organ failure. No specific antidote is available. A 71-year-old male who was a chronic alcoholic and known hypertensive got admitted in toxicology ward, with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis, 11 hours after alleged consumption of tubers of a wild plant. 24 hours after ingestion the patient succumbed to death and post-mortem was done to establish cause of death.
 

Keywords: Autopsy findings, Kodalikkizhangu, Colchicine, Poisoning.


How to cite : Narayanan S, Ramalingam S, Narendar R, Death due to kodalikkizhangu poisoning: A case report. Indian J Forensic Community Med 2022;9(2):86-90


This is an Open Access (OA) journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.







Article History

Received : 30-05-2022

Accepted : 12-06-2022


View Article

PDF File   Full Text Article


Downlaod

PDF File   XML File   ePub File


Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Article DOI

https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijfcm.2022.019


Article Metrics






Article Access statistics

Viewed: 971

PDF Downloaded: 244



Medical Abbreviation List