This month in J Lab Clin Med: Issue highlights for February 2001

Abstract

Anisodus tanguticus is a member of the Datura (nightshade) family and is felt by most authorities to be the same species as black henbane, a weed occasionally associated with livestock poisonings in the western United States. It has been used for a variety of indications in traditional Chinese medicine, and many of its effects have been found to be associated with a compound closely related to atropine. That compound was named anisodamine, for its herbal source, and was in China assigned the research-drug code number 654 for its date of isolation (April 1965).