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Forensic Medicine · Toxicology: Gloriosa superba poisoning
Sample itemA labourer eats the tubers of a climbing plant, mistaking them for yam. Within hours he has burning in the mouth, vomiting and bloody diarrhoea. By day four there is leucopenia and falling blood pressure, and about ten days later his hair falls out. Which plant was eaten?
Original practice item, not a recalled exam question. Nothing here is recorded.
The answer and the reasoning
B. Gloriosa superba
Gloriosa superba tubers contain colchicine, which blocks microtubule formation in dividing cells. After a gastrointestinal phase comes multi-organ failure with bone marrow suppression, and alopecia appears in survivors a week or two later. Treatment is supportive.
Option by option
A. Datura stramonium
Datura causes an anticholinergic syndrome with dilated pupils, dry skin and delirium.
B. Gloriosa superba (correct)
Correct. Colchicine toxicity explains the gut phase, marrow suppression and later alopecia.
C. Jatropha curcas
Jatropha seeds cause purgation and vomiting but not bone marrow suppression and alopecia.
D. Abrus precatorius
Abrus seeds contain abrin, which causes gastroenteritis and organ injury, not alopecia from mitotic arrest.
Source note: Original NextPrep sample item — pending expert review. This item is original practice material awaiting independent expert review, so confirm important facts in a standard textbook.
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