Venoms and Poisonings during the Centuries: A Narrative Review.

The first traces of man's of poison use date back to ten thousand years ago since the last period of the Paleolithic era. Man used poison for hunting and defense. Indeed, in the second half of the 19th century, arrows made from the bones of animals characterized by particular grooves were found in some caves. In ancient Greece, the term pharmakon (φάρµακον) had a double meaning: remedy for therapy and venom. This is the period in which humans became aware of the fact that poison cannot be defined simply as a substance capable of changing the properties of things. Poison is very frequently mentioned in the history of the Roman Empire, and its use continued through the Renaissance and even during the modern era. Poison was the protagonist in multiple political intrigues of power and is one of the most used lethal weapons over the years. Thought of as the optimal solution for a perfect murder, the poison has a long history. Its success is due to the invisible, untraceable, and often unpunished death it causes.

On Anecdote and Antidotes: Poison Trials in Sixteenth-Century Europe.

This article describes the use of poison trials, in which an animal or a condemned criminal was poisoned, to test antidotes in sixteenth-century Europe. In contrast to most drug testing in medieval and early modern Europe, which was gathered in the normal course of therapeutic experience, the poison trial was a contrived, deliberate event. I argue that poison trials had an important function in both medical testing and medical writing in the period between 1524-1580. While poison trials dated back to antiquity, they tended to be described in medieval texts as theoretical possibilities rather than empirical tests that had already occurred. In contrast, early modern physicians conducted poison trials and described them as anecdotes in medical texts. Although physicians did not explicitly separate poison trials from evidence gathered in the course of regular therapeutic experience, they did imbue the outcome of poison trials with considerable epistemological weight.

The history of Botulinum toxin: from poison to beauty.

Botulinum toxin, also called the "miracle toxin," is a neurotoxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. It is known to block nerve signals that contract muscles resulting in a temporary paralysis of the muscles. Toxins type A and B have been extensively studied and utilized in the realm of beauty and cosmetology. Initially, the toxin gained popularity as a disease-causing "poison". It was only later that it found its way to becoming a must have in modern aesthetic practice. Today, this wonder toxin has proven to be an apt and convenient option in the field of anti-aging medicine.

[Venom as a cure--some notes on ancient medicine]. / Tiergifte als Heilmittel--ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der antiken Medizin.

Very little is known today about the linguistics and facts relating to venoms in the ancient world. The article concerns itself initially with the terminology: How were venoms conceptualized and what position did they occupy among medicines and other poisons? Additionally ancient knowledge of the constitution and location of the venoms will be examined. Furthermore, it shall be outlined how it was perceived that the poisons actually took effect. The results of our investigations indicate that it was unlikely that venoms were used for medicinal purposes in ancient times.

The power of poison: pesticide poisoning of Africa's wildlife.

Poisons have long been used to kill wildlife throughout the world. An evolution has occurred from the use of plant- and animal-based toxins to synthetic pesticides to kill wildlife, a method that is silent, cheap, easy, and effective. The use of pesticides to poison wildlife began in southern Africa, and predator populations were widely targeted and eliminated. A steep increase has recently been observed in the intensity of wildlife poisonings, with corresponding population declines. However, the majority of poisonings go unreported. Under national laws, it is illegal to hunt wildlife using poisons in 83% of African countries. Pesticide regulations are inadequate, and enforcement of existing legislation is poor. Few countries have forensic field protocols, and most lack storage and testing facilities. Methods used to poison wildlife include baiting carcasses, soaking grains in pesticide solution, mixing pesticides to form salt licks, and tainting waterholes. Carbofuran is the most widely abused pesticide in Africa. Common reasons for poisoning are control of damage-causing animals, harvesting fish and bushmeat, harvesting animals for traditional medicine, poaching for wildlife products, and killing wildlife sentinels (e.g., vultures because their aerial circling alerts authorities to poachers' activities). Populations of scavengers, particularly vultures, have been decimated by poisoning. Recommendations include banning pesticides, improving pesticide regulations and controlling distribution, better enforcement and stiffer penalties for offenders, increasing international support and awareness, and developing regional pesticide centers.

Botany meets archaeology: people and plants in the past.

This paper explores the close links between botany and archaeology, using case studies from the ancient Mediterranean. It explains the kinds of palaeobotanical remains that archaeologists can recover and the methods used to analyse them. The importance of iconographic and textual evidence is also underlined. Examples of key research areas that focus on ancient plants are discussed: diet and palaeoeconomy; medicines, poisons, and psychotropics; perfumes, cosmetics, and dyes; and prestige.

[The most popular poisons from Graeco-Roman world]. / Najbardziej popularne trucizny swiata grecko-rzymskiego.

Article presents the most popular antique poisons. Information from encyclopaedic literature and literary texts of the Roman Empire period has been compared with the etymology of the names of some poisons of plant and animal origin.

Animal experiments, vital forces and courtrooms: Mateu Orfila, François Magendie and the study of poisons in nineteenth-century France.

The paper follows the lives of Mateu Orfila and François Magendie in early nineteenth-century Paris, focusing on their common interest in poisons. The first part deals with the striking similarities of their early careers: their medical training, their popular private lectures, and their first publications. The next section explores their experimental work on poisons by analyzing their views on physical and vital forces in living organisms and their ideas about the significance of animal experiments in medicine. The last part describes their contrasting research on the absorption of poisons and the divergences in their approaches, methods, aims, standards of proof, and intended audiences. The analysis highlights the connections between nineteenth-century courtrooms and experimental laboratories, and shows how forensic practice not only prompted animal experimentation but also provided a substantial body of information and new research methods for dealing with major theoretical issues like the absorption of poisons.

Botulinum toxin historical aspects: from food poisoning to pharmaceutical.

BACKGROUND: In the history of medicine, unexpected coincidences indicated the development of new treatment options. OBJECTIVE: One of the most peculiar ones concerns the finding of botulinum toxin, and this should be familiar to physicians using the drug. METHODS: A survey through the history of the "fat-poison" has been performed. RESULT: A poison turned to one of the most popular drugs in aesthetic medicine. CONCLUSION: Depending on the dose, a substance may be poisonous or not.

Aflatoxin: a 50-year odyssey of mechanistic and translational toxicology.

Since their discovery 50 years ago, the aflatoxins have become recognized as ubiquitous contaminants of the human food supply throughout the economically developing world. The adverse toxicological consequences of these compounds in populations are quite varied because of a wide range of exposures leading to acute effects, including rapid death, and chronic outcomes such as hepatocellular carcinoma. Furthermore, emerging studies describe a variety of general adverse health effects associated with aflatoxin, such as impaired growth in children. Aflatoxin exposures have also been demonstrated to multiplicatively increase the risk of liver cancer in people chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) illustrating the deleterious impact that even low toxin levels in the diet can pose for human health. The public health impact of aflatoxin exposure is pervasive. Aflatoxin biomarkers of internal and biologically effective doses have been integral to the establishment of the etiologic role of this toxin in human disease through better estimates of exposure, expanded knowledge of the mechanisms of disease pathogenesis, and as tools for implementing and evaluating preventive interventions.

Guatemala's green revolution: synthetic fertilizer, public health, and economic autonomy in the Mayan highland.

Despite extensive literature both supporting and critiquing the Green Revolution, surprisingly little attention has been paid to synthetic fertilizers' health and environmental effects or indigenous farmers' perspectives. The introduction of agrochemicals in the mid-twentieth century was a watershed event for many Mayan farmers in Guatemala. While some Maya hailed synthetic fertilizers' immediate effectiveness as a relief from famines and migrant labor, other lamented the long-term deterioration of their public health, soil quality, and economic autonomy. Since the rising cost of agrochemicals compelled Maya to return to plantation labor in the 1970s, synthetic fertilizers simply shifted, rather than alleviated, Mayan dependency on the cash economy. By highlighting Mayan farmers' historical narratives and delineating the relationship between agricultural science and postwar geopolitics, the constraints on agriculturists' agency become clear. In the end, politics, more than technology or agricultural performance, influenced guatemala's shift toward the Green Revolution.

Arsenic: a beneficial therapeutic poison - a historical overview.

Arsenicals have been used since ancient Greek and Roman civilizations and in the Far East as part of traditional Chinese medicine. In Western countries, they became a therapeutic mainstay for various ailments and malignancies in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Fowler's potassium bicarbonate-based solution of arsenic trioxide (As2O3)solution was the main treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia until the 1930s. After a decline in the use of arsenic during the mid-20th century, arsenic trioxide was reintroduced as an anticancer agent after reports emerged from China of the success of an arsenic trioxide-containing herbal mixture for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukaemia. Arsenic trioxide was first purified and used in controlled studies in China in the 1970s.Subsequently, randomised clinical trials performed in the United States led to FDA approval of arsenic trioxide in the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

[Poisons in literature and iconography during the age of Pietro d'Abano]. / I veleni nella letteratura e nell'iconografia al tempo di Pietro d'Abano.

The fear of poisons belongs to the scientific knowledge from Antiquity till the Modern Era. Here the reader will find sources and resources on the idea of poisons; from Nicander of Colofon to Paolo Uccello. This paper rely on literary sources that have been part of the scientific milieu of Pietro d'Abano and his commentators: Cecco d'Ascoli, Guido da Pisa, Gregorio d'Arezzo, Jean de Mandeville. The essay describes illuminated manuscripts and masterpieces of art witnessing the concern for poisons.

[Pietro d'Abano on venoms and poisons]. / Pietro d'Abano sui veleni tradizione medievale e fonti greche.

The Treatise on Venoms and Poisons (Liber de venenis) by Pietro d'Abano has been traditionally considered as a collection of superstitions and unscientific data, even though it was also--and paradoxically--deemed interesting for the history of medieval science. The present contribution frames the treatise in the ancient toxicological literature, and suggests textual similarities with classical Greek works, mainly the two treatises On Venoms and On Poisons ascribed to the first-century A.D. author of De materia medica Dioscorides. Since Pietro d'Abano sojourned in Constantinople he might have had access to the Greek texts of these two works and could very well have integrated some of their information in his own treatise.