Question

In the Netherlands a young man named Jan was admitted to the emergency room. He and his friends had been to a rave. His friends say he started twitching and having muscle spasms which progressed until he was "stiff as a board." On examination, staff found a marked increase in muscle tone and hyperreflexia involving facial and limb muscles. In his pocket, he had unmarked yellow tablets with dark flecks. Analysis of the tablets showed them to contain a mixture of ecstasy and strychnine. Ecstasy would not cause this clinical picture, but strychnine, which blocks glycine receptors, could. Explain how?

Answer 1

Strychnine could cause it because it acts as a poison on the human body and effects the central nervous system. Some of the clinical symtoms are nervousness, restlessness, twitching of the muscles, and stiffness of the neck. In this case, Jan has symptoms like twitching of the muscles and stiffness. Therefore, his systems lead us to believe that the strychnine caused his muscle spasms, twitching, and stiffness.