Author(s)

Wanqing Li, Shiya Que, Yueming Ying

Corresponding Author

Wanqing Li

ABSTRACT

Amatoxin is a toxic substance commonly found in death cap mushrooms, and is responsible for most deaths caused by mushroom ingestion. This paper summarizes the known information of the poisoning mechanism, symptoms and treatments for the toxicity of amatoxin, and it also provides some future perspectives of the potential use of this substance. The mechanism of amatoxin poisoning is rooted in its ability to bind to the enzyme RNA polymerase II and inhibit transcription, which may result in numerous conditions ranging in severity, including single or a small range of cell apoptosis to liver necrosis. A series of symptoms usually occur after people digest mushrooms that contain the poisonous amatoxin. The time of occurrence of symptoms is also divided into three main stages: within one day, one to two days, three days or later. More detailed symptoms and reactions will be described in this article. However, each person's reaction may not be exactly the same as the symptoms mentioned in the article, because the manifestation of symptoms will be related to many factors, such as each person's physical fitness, whether they have taken the relevant drugs and so on. To detoxify and treat effectively after poisoning, scientists have discovered several different treatments. The main types are induced vomiting, gastric lavage, catharsis, enema, infusion and diuresis, and sulfhydryl antidote.

KEYWORDS

Amatoxin, Mushroom, Mechanism, Poison symptom, Detoxify