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Tubocurarine chemical structure
Tubocurarine


IUPAC name
CAS number
6989-98-6
ATC code

M03AA02 .

PubChem
6000
DrugBank
APRD00176
Chemical formula {{{chemical_formula}}}
Molecular weight 609.731 g/mol
Bioavailability
Metabolism
Elimination half-life 1-2 Hours
Excretion {{{excretion}}}
Pregnancy category
Legal status banned
Routes of administration I.V.

Tubocurarine chloride is an alkaloid of the benzylisoquinoline type. It is an antagonist of nicotinic neuromuscular acetylcholine receptors[1] that is used to paralyse patients undergoing anaesthesia.

History[]

It is one of the chemicals that can be obtained from curare, itself an extract of Chondrodendron tomentosum, a plant found in South American jungles which is used as a source of arrow poison. Native Indians hunting animals with this poison were able to eat the animal's contaminated flesh without being affected by the toxin because tubocurarine cannot easily cross mucous membranes and is thus inactive orally.

Medically, first used in 1912. Introduced in anaesthesia in 1942. The correct chemical structure was only elucidated circa 1970, even though the plant had been known since the Spanish Conquest.

The word curare comes from the South American Indian name for the arrow poison: "ourare". Presumably the initial syllable was pronounced with a heavy glottal stroke. Tubocurarine is so called because the plant samples containing it were first shipped to Europe in tubes.

Today, tubocurarine has fallen into disuse in western medicine, as safer synthetic alternatives such as atracurium are available. However, tubocurarine is still used in the United States and elsewhere as part of the lethal injection procedure. ==Other names== d-Tubocurarine. Tubocurarin. Tubocurarinum. Delacurarine. Tubarine. Metubine. Jex

HSDB 2152. Isoquinoline Alkaloid. Tubadil. Mecostrin. Intracostin. Intocostrin.

See also[]


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  1. Wenningmann I, Dilger JP (October 2001). The kinetics of inhibition of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by (+)-tubocurarine and pancuronium. Molecular pharmacology 60 (4): 790–6.
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