The natural history of the concept of antidote

• Published in: Toxicology reports 2021-01, Vol.8, p.1305-1309
• Main Author: Magowska, Anita
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antidote; Experimental toxicology; Poisoning; Specific antidote; Toxicology and Redox Biology under the frame of their historical evolution; Universal antidote
• ISSN: 2214-7500; 2214-7500
• DOI: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.06.019

•For several centuries, the antidote paradigm was the same as the drug paradigm.•However, when chemistry progressed, the concepts of a specific chemical antidote were assumed.•In the face of the increasing number of acute poisoning, the ideas of a universal antidote play a more critical role.•The development of toxicology prompts reflection on the price of civilization progress. Over the centuries, the development of knowledge about poisons and antidotes depended on their conceptualization, however, a range of poisons and the concept of antidote evolved. With the passing of time, different substances of plant, animal, and mineral origin, moreover, man-made ones, were used deliberatively, accidentally, or unintentionally as poisons. The concept of antidote was changing in line with the progress of medicine and understanding of the mechanism of how poison works. From this perspective, the history of antidotes may be considered as the quintessence of changes within toxicology. Among the theories of antidote, the most interesting is the concept of a universal one, because it has never become obsolete. This review article focuses on the changing conceptualization of antidotes. It contains an analysis of historical toxicological treatises on antidotes and PubMed articles on the same topic.