ricin

ricin /ri·cin/ (ri´sin) a phytotoxin in the seeds of the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis), used in the synthesis of immunotoxins.

---

ri·cin (rsn, rsn)

n.

A poisonous protein that is extracted from the castor bean and is used as a biochemical reagent.

---

ricin

[rī′sin]

a poison made from waste produced in processing castor beans. It can take the form of a powder, mist, or pellet or can be dissolved in water or weak acid and can be used as a poison by ingestion, inhalation, or injection. As little as 500 micrograms can be a fatal dose. It cannot be spread by person-to-person contact. Poisoning is treated by minimizing exposure and by supportive care. There is no antidote. Also called ricinine. See also ribosome-inactivating protein.

---

ricin [ri´sin]

a phytotoxin in the seeds of the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis), inhalation or ingestion of which causes intoxication, producing superficial inflammation of the respiratory mucosa with hemorrhages into the lungs, or edema of the gastrointestinal tract with hemorrhages.

---

ricin

phytotoxin (combining lectin, toxalbumin, hemagglutinin) in the seeds of the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis), inhalation or ingestion of which causes intoxication, producing superficial inflammation of the respiratory mucosa with hemorrhages into the lungs, or edema of the gastrointestinal tract with hemorrhages.

---

ricin

Toxicology A toxic vegetable poison from the castor bean plant–Ricinus communis which causes agglutination and fulminant hemolysis at very high dilutions–1/106 Clinical Abdominal pain, nausea, cramps, convulsions, dehydration, hemolysis, cyanosis, renal failure–oliguria, hematuria, circulatory collapse. See Magic bullet.