Lycoris aurea 忽地笑

POISONOUS PARTS

Whole plant, especially the bulbs.^4,5

TOXICITY

• Toxic Constituents

  Amaryllidaceae alkaloids such as lycorine and galantamine.^5–7

• Mechanism

  The exact mechanism for the major toxic features remains unidentified. Lycorine has emetic effect. Galantamine can inhibit cholinesterase activity.^8,9

• Poisoning Features

  Vomiting, diarrhoea and oral numbness. Confusion, respiratory failure and even death in severe cases.^5,10

• Poisoning Events

  Poisoning cases, including fatal ones, due to ingestion of the plant have been reported in China. However, the cases were inadequately documented.^5,10

CLINICAL MANAGEMENT

Supportive treatment.

IDENTIFICATION FEATURES

Herbs, bulbs about 5 cm in diameter. Leaves about 60 × 1.7–2.5 cm, midveins pale, appearing in autumn. Flowering stems about 60 cm tall. Perianth yellow, tubes 1.2–1.5 cm long; lobes about 6 × 0.4–1 cm, with greenish midveins abaxially, strongly recurved, margin strongly undulate. Stamens 7–12 cm long. Styles rose red at apex. Capsules 3-angled. Seeds about 7 mm in diameter, black.¹¹

MEDICINAL USES

Bulbs used in TCM: moisten the lung and suppress cough, expel toxin and heal furuncles, disperse abscesses and swelling, kill parasites. For external use only.^12,13

LABORATORY ANALYSIS

Lycorine and galantamine can be detected by HPLC-DAD, GC-MS and LC-MS/MS.^14–17