Ergot Alkaloids are Also Mushroom Poisons

摘要

To the interesting and comprehensive review by Wennig et al. (1), it may be added that ergot alkaloids (such as ergotamine) (2) can also be included among the mushroom poisons. The ergot (Claviceps purpurea) actually belongs to the large mushrooms, because small but easily recognizable fruiting bodies grow out of the so-called sclerotium (the permanent form of some sac fungi) in the spring. However, intoxications from ergot (via grain) are more likely to be subsumed in the group of mycotoxins (mold poisoning). Ergot poisoning is not a result of normal mushroom picking. Nowadays, poisoning with ergot alkaloids from grain rarely occurs due to modern agriculture; rather, it occurs through the intake of certain medications, for example against migraines or Parkinson‘s disease, and in obstetrics (3). Interestingly, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is a chemical derivative of lysergic acid from ergot.