Avian Toxins and Poisoning Mechanisms

Abstract All around the world, there are species of birds that have developed the ability to acquire toxic chemicals in their bodies making them less palatable or even lethal when consumed or contacted. Exposure to poisonous bird species is rare among humans, yet their poisons can produ...

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Main Authors: Yeung, Kara A., Chai, Peter R., Russell, Brendan L., Erickson, Timothy B.
Other Authors: Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer US 2022
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/142218
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author Yeung, Kara A.
Chai, Peter R.
Russell, Brendan L.
Erickson, Timothy B.
author2 Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT
author_facet Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT
Yeung, Kara A.
Chai, Peter R.
Russell, Brendan L.
Erickson, Timothy B.
author_sort Yeung, Kara A.
collection MIT
description Abstract All around the world, there are species of birds that have developed the ability to acquire toxic chemicals in their bodies making them less palatable or even lethal when consumed or contacted. Exposure to poisonous bird species is rare among humans, yet their poisons can produce serious clinical outcomes. In this study, we conducted a literature search focusing on seven avian species: the pitohuis (Pitohui spp.), blue-capped ifrita (Ifrita kowaldi), European quail (Cortunix corturnix coturnix), spur or spoor-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis), North American ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus), Brush bronzewings (Phaps elegans), and European hoopoes and woodhoopoes (Upupa epops and Phoeniculus purpureus, respectively). We present the geographic distribution of each poisonous bird, toxin physiology and origin, clinical signs and symptoms of poisoning, cases of human toxicity if available and discuss the birds’ ability to prevent self-intoxication. Our results suggest that most cases of contact with toxic birds produce mild symptoms as most of these birds apart from the European quail (C. c. corturnix) and North American ruffed grouse (B. umbellus) are not commonly consumed by humans. Furthermore, we discuss several methods of toxin acquisition in these bird species, which are mostly diet acquired apart from the hoopoes and woodhoopoes (Upupa and Phoeniculus spp.) who have a symbiotic relationship with chemical-producing bacteria in their uropygial glands. In summary, our study provides a comprehensive review of the toxic physiology, clinical manifestations, and evolutionary insight to avian toxins.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1422182023-02-08T19:53:32Z Avian Toxins and Poisoning Mechanisms Yeung, Kara A. Chai, Peter R. Russell, Brendan L. Erickson, Timothy B. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT Abstract All around the world, there are species of birds that have developed the ability to acquire toxic chemicals in their bodies making them less palatable or even lethal when consumed or contacted. Exposure to poisonous bird species is rare among humans, yet their poisons can produce serious clinical outcomes. In this study, we conducted a literature search focusing on seven avian species: the pitohuis (Pitohui spp.), blue-capped ifrita (Ifrita kowaldi), European quail (Cortunix corturnix coturnix), spur or spoor-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis), North American ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus), Brush bronzewings (Phaps elegans), and European hoopoes and woodhoopoes (Upupa epops and Phoeniculus purpureus, respectively). We present the geographic distribution of each poisonous bird, toxin physiology and origin, clinical signs and symptoms of poisoning, cases of human toxicity if available and discuss the birds’ ability to prevent self-intoxication. Our results suggest that most cases of contact with toxic birds produce mild symptoms as most of these birds apart from the European quail (C. c. corturnix) and North American ruffed grouse (B. umbellus) are not commonly consumed by humans. Furthermore, we discuss several methods of toxin acquisition in these bird species, which are mostly diet acquired apart from the hoopoes and woodhoopoes (Upupa and Phoeniculus spp.) who have a symbiotic relationship with chemical-producing bacteria in their uropygial glands. In summary, our study provides a comprehensive review of the toxic physiology, clinical manifestations, and evolutionary insight to avian toxins. 2022-05-02T11:52:31Z 2022-05-02T11:52:31Z 2022-04-26 2022-05-01T03:20:04Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/142218 Yeung, Kara A., Chai, Peter R., Russell, Brendan L. and Erickson, Timothy B. 2022. "Avian Toxins and Poisoning Mechanisms." PUBLISHER_CC en https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-022-00891-6 Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 The Author(s) application/pdf Springer US Springer US
spellingShingle Yeung, Kara A.
Chai, Peter R.
Russell, Brendan L.
Erickson, Timothy B.
Avian Toxins and Poisoning Mechanisms
title Avian Toxins and Poisoning Mechanisms
title_full Avian Toxins and Poisoning Mechanisms
title_fullStr Avian Toxins and Poisoning Mechanisms
title_full_unstemmed Avian Toxins and Poisoning Mechanisms
title_short Avian Toxins and Poisoning Mechanisms
title_sort avian toxins and poisoning mechanisms
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/142218
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