Accidental fatal poisoning in a child due to ingestion of Nerium oleander leaf.

Nerium oleander is an ornamental plant that belongs to the family Apocynaceae. It contains a cardiac glycoside named oleandrin, which is present in all parts of the oleander plant. Suicidal and medication-related deaths due to Nerium oleander poisoning are not uncommon. However, accidental deaths due to oleander leaf ingestion are most commonly encountered. We are reporting a case of an accidental ingestion of Nerium oleander leaf in a child by mistaking it for a guava leaf. The child presented to the casualty with vomiting, poor sensorium, hypotension, and shock. The child developed hyperkalemia, acute kidney injury, myocardial dysfunction, and bleeding manifestations. The urine output was decreased (< 0.5 ml/kg/h). Later, the child died after 36 h. On autopsy examination, periorbital puffiness and bluish discoloration of the nail beds were present. Petechial hemorrhages were present in the heart, kidney, and mesentery. The stomach mucosa was hemorrhagic. Histopathologically, the lung showed interstitial congestion, the liver showed centrilobular necrosis, and the kidney showed acute tubular necrosis. Toxicology analysis was positive for oleander poisoning. This case highlights the toxic nature of Nerium oleander ingestion and the importance of avoiding such plants around residential areas.

Fatal poisoning by ingestion of a self-prepared oleander leaf infusion.

An unusual case of poisoning by the ingestion of oleander leaves is reported. A 71 year old male laboratory technician committed suicide at home in this unusual manner. At the death scene a steel pan and other paraphernalia, used for the extraction of oleandrin and other cardiac glycosides from the leaves of the Nerium oleander plant were found.Toxicological investigations for oleandrin, oleandrigenin, neritaloside, and odoroside were performed by LC-MS/MS on all biological samples (peripheral blood, vitreous humor, urine, liver, gastric contents) and on the yellow infusion found at the death scene.In all samples, toxic levels of oleandrin were detected (blood 37.5 ng/mL, vitreous humor 12.6 ng/mL, urine 83.8 ng/mL, liver 205 ng/mg, gastric content 31.2 µg/mL, infusion 38.5 µg/mL). Qualitative results for oleandrigenin, neritaloside, and odoroside were obtained. Oleandrigenin was present in all tissue samples whereas neritaloside and odoroside were absent in the blood and vitreous humor but present in urine, liver, gastric content, and in the leaf brew.The purpose of this study was the identification of oleandrin and its congener oleandrigenin, detected in the vitreous humor. The blood/vitreous humor ratio was also calculated in order to assess of the likely time interval from ingestion to death. According to the toxicological results death was attributed to fatal arrhythmia due to oleander intoxication. The manner of death was classified as suicide through the ingestion of the infusion.

Biosynthesis of SiO2 nanoparticles using extract of Nerium oleander leaves for the removal of tetracycline antibiotic.

Tetracycline (TC) is one of the antibiotics that is found in wastewaters. TC is toxic, carcinogenic, and teratogenic. In this study, the tetracycline was removed from water by adsorption using dioxide silicon nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) biosynthesized from the extract of Nerium oleander leaves. These nanoparticles were characterized using SEM-EDX, BET-BJH, FTIR-ATR, TEM, and XRD. The influences of various factors such as pH solution, SiO2 NPs dose, adsorption process time, initial TC concentration, and ionic strength on adsorption behaviour of TC onto SiO2 NPs were investigated. TC adsorption on SiO2 NPs could be well described in the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and followed the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity was 552.48 mg/g. At optimal conditions, the experimental adsorption results indicated that the SiO2 NPs adsorbed 98.62% of TC. The removal of TC using SiO2 NPs was 99.56% at conditions (SiO2 NPs dose = 0.25 g/L, C0 = 25 mg/L, and t = 40 min) based on Box-Behnken design (BBD) combined with response surface methodology (RSM) modelling. Electrostatic interaction governs the adsorption mechanism is attributed. The reusability of SiO2 NPs was tested, and the performance adsorption was 85.36% after the five cycles. The synthesized SiO2 NPs as promising adsorbent has a potential application for antibiotics removal from wastewaters.