What are the effects of Curare on a human?

Question

biology experiment

Answer 1

Go Marie!

We don't have curare available to us anymore.  We used to use it all the time for defasciculation prior to using succinylcholine - now we have to use rocuronium or vecuronium.  It had its problems - mainly related to the release of histamine.

The effects are simple - it gets in the way of the chemical that lets the nerves communicate with the muscles.  Muscles (skeletal muscles, including the diaphragm) do not work.  You then get a flaccid paralysis and no breathing.

(In anesthesia, we take over the breathing, so it's OK)

Answer 2

Curare is a common name for dart poisons originating from South America.  There are 3 types.  You can find out more about curane at this web site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curare

There's quite a bit about its effects on humans at this site:

http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botanyt...

Answer 3

It paralyzes the muscles by acting as a non-depolarizing blocker on the acetylcholine receptors on the post-synaptic membrane of the neuromuscular junction.  *g*  In simple terms, it doesn't allow the brain to send signals for the muscle cells to fire or contract, but it doesn't make them fire itself, so the muscle just goes limp.  Curare doesn't kill directly; the problem is that if your diaphragm can't move, you can't breathe.

If Pangolin is around, she can give you the history of use of curare-based drugs in anesthesiology.  I don't think they are still used anywhere because safer drugs are available, but I believe it was the first drug used as a muscle relaxant in addition to the general anesthetics that produced unconsciousness.

And if this is for an experiment, I hope it's a thought experiment only.  ;-)