#atropine

• Atropa — A genus of perennial herbaceous plants in the family Solanaceae, the most famous being Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade). Species within this genus have a complex biological structure and are highly toxic, containing a large amount of tropane alkaloids (atropine, scopolamine) with major parasympatholytic effects, utilized in the structural pharmaceutical industry and medicine.
• Atropine — A toxic alkaloid extracted from deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) and other plants of the Solanaceae family, used in medicine as a parasympatholytic agent; it acts structurally by blocking acetylcholine muscarinic receptors, causing effects such as pupil dilation (mydriasis), reduction of glandular secretions, and acceleration of the heart rate. It represents an essential antidote in poisonings with organophosphorus pesticides or nerve gases.
• Atropinized — Having undergone the process of atropinization; a patient or organism treated with atropine in whom the desired muscarinic cholinergic blockade has been achieved. In a clinical sense, it describes the state of a poisoned subject whose lethal symptoms (bradycardia, marked mydriasis) have been structurally neutralized through the stabilizing action of this alkaloid.
• Atropism — A chronic pathological condition or systemic poisoning caused by the repeated and abusive use of atropine or other deadly nightshade preparations; a form of dependency or structurally altered tolerance of cholinergic receptors toward the effects of this toxic alkaloid. This phenomenon causes severe functional changes in the autonomic nervous system, manifested through visual, cardiac, and behavioral disorders.