Poisoning with 4-Aminopyridine: Report of Three Cases

Abstract

4-Aminopyridine [4-AP] is an acutely toxic avicide considered by the manufacturer to be a bird repellant because only a small number of birds are acutely poisoned, become disoriented and emit a distress cry frightening other members of the flock. 4-Aminopyridine dramatically enhances transmission at the neuromuscular junction and other synapses, and has been employed clinically in the treatment of prolonged paralysis caused by antibiotics and muscle relaxants, and in the Eaton-Lambert syndrome. The results of acute poisoning in 3 adult males, animal toxicology, neurophysiological research using 4-AP as a K channel blocker, clinical applications, and management of overdose with this agent are reported.