An investigation of nine Malaysian dart poisons has confirmed that their main active components are cardenolides from Antiaris toxicaria (Pers.) Lesch. and alkaloids probably from different forms of Strychnos ignatii P. Bergius. It is not possible to determine the ethnic origin of the poisons from the results of the analyses on their own. Two new cardiac glycosides have been isolated and their structures determined as 12 beta-hydroxycannogenin 3 beta-O-beta-D-deoxygulopyranoside and 3 beta-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside, respectively.
The latex of pokok ipoh (Antiaris toxocaria) and the root bark of akar ipoh (Strychnos species) have been the main sources of the poisonous principles in dart and arrow poisons prepared throughout south-east Asia. We report a fatal case of rhabdomyolysis and acute oliguric renal failure following oral ingestion of blowpipe dart poison. To our knowledge this is the first such report.