At that time, only one African species of Malouetia was recognized, but the following year Woodson described a second: Malouetia bequaertiana, from the Belgian Congo.In 1960, scientists reported the isolation of malouetine from the roots and bark of Malouetia bequaertiana Woodson by means of an ion exchange technique. Optimization of the aminosteroid nucleus led to a sequence of synthesized derivatives, ultimately leading to pancuronium bromide in 1964. The name was derived from p(iperidino)an(drostane)cur(arising)-onium.A paper published in 1973 discussed the structure-activity relationships of a series of aminosteroid muscle relaxants, including the mono-quaternary analogue of pancuronium, later called vecuronium. Society and culture
It is commercially available as ampoules containing 4 or 10 mg of the drug in powder form which needs to be dissolved in distilled water prior to being given. Non-medical use
Vecuronium bromide has been used as part of a drug cocktail that prisons in the United States use as a means to put a condemned prisoner to death. Vecuronium is used to paralyze the prisoner and stop his or her breathing, in conjunction with a sedative and potassium chloride to stop the prisoners heart. Injections of vecuronium bromide without proper sedation allow the person to be fully awake but unable to move in response to pain.In 2001, Japanese nurse Daisuke Mori was reported to have murdered 10 patients using vecuronium bromide. He was convicted of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. References
External links
"Vecuronium Bromide". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Familial dysautonomia (FD), also known as Riley-Day Syndrome, is a rare, progressive, recessive genetic disorder of the autonomic nervous system that affects the development and survival of sensory, sympathetic and some parasympathetic neurons in the autonomic and sensory nervous system. FD results in variable symptoms, including insensitivity to pain, inability to produce tears, poor growth and labile blood pressure (episodic hypertension and postural hypotension). People with FD have frequent vomiting crises, pneumonia, problems with speech and movement, difficulty swallowing, inappropriate perception of heat, pain and taste as well as unstable blood pressure and gastrointestinal dysmotility. Originally reported by Drs. Conrad Milton Riley and Richard Lawrence Day in 1949, FD is one example of a group of disorders known as hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies (HSAN). All HSAN are characterized by widespread sensory dysfunction and variable autonomic dysfunction caused by incomplete development of sensory and autonomic neurons. The disorders are believed to be genetically distinct from each other.