Is oleander an alkaloid?

Oleander is an evergreen shrub or small tree from 5 to 25-ft tall containing gummy sticky sap in the dogbane family apocynaceae. Eight chemical alkaloids constituents have been identified from methanolic extract of the Nerium oleander.

What happens if you eat a Nerium oleander?

All parts of these plants are toxic (especially the seeds) and contain a variety of cardiac glycosides including thevetins A and B. Ingestion of yellow oleander results in nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, cardiac dysrhythmias, and hyperkalemia (Bandara et al., 2010).

What happens if you touch Nerium oleander?

Simply touching an oleander plant can cause skin irritation, particularly if you come into contact with the plant sap. Oleander is also extremely toxic to cats, dogs and horses. If you are cultivating an oleander, wear gloves when you prune the shrub, and wash your hands well afterward.

Is oleander a neurotoxin?

Of the many species of poisonous plants in India, the toxic profiles of Oleander (a primarily cardiotoxic plant) and Datura (a primarily neurotoxic plant) will be reviewed in this paper.

Can oleander cause hallucinations?

Toxic compounds known as glycosides occur in all parts of the plant, and exposure to fumes of burned plant material or eating sap, berries, leaves and blossoms can result in heart arrhythmia, palpitations, dizziness, hallucinations, altered mental state, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, coma or death.

Is oleander poison detectable?

Oleander poisoning can be detected by digoxin immunoassays and for last two decades the fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) has been used for rapid detection of oleander poisoning in clinical laboratories.

Is there an antidote for oleander?

The only proven effective antidote is digoxin antibodies but these are not available for routine use because of the high cost. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a new and inexpensive antidote for patients with life threatening arrhythmias due oleander poisoning.

What is the poison in oleander?

Oleander is also used as an animal poison, which is best illustrated by its role as a rat poison. All parts of the nerium oleander are poisonous, primarily due to the contained cardiac glycosides—that is, oleandrin, nerin, digitoxigenin, and olinerin of which oleandrin is the principal toxin.