Albert, Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, died in 24 days after first record of "feeling horribly ill". Died 14 December 1861 after suffering loss of appetite, insomnia, fever, chills, profuse sweating, vomiting, rash spots, delusions, inability to recognize family members, worsening rash on abdomen, a change in tongue color, then finally a state of extreme fatigue. Attending physician William Jenner, an expert on Typhoid fever at the time, diagnosed him. Edward VII of the UK, son of Queen Victoria, while still Prince of Wales, had a near fatal case of typhoid fever. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, survived, illness was circa 1900–1901. William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the United States of America, died 32 days into his term, in 1841. This is the shortest term served by a United States President. Wilbur Wright, co-inventor of the plane with his brother Orville died from typhoid 32 years before Orville. Stephen A. Douglas, political opponent of Abraham Lincoln in 1858 and 1860, died of typhoid on June 3, 1861. Ignacio Zaragoza, Mexican general and politician, died at the age of 33 of typhoid fever on September 8, 1862. William Wallace Lincoln, the son of US president Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, died of typhoid in 1862. Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, mother of president Theodore Roosevelt and paternal grandmother of Eleanor Roosevelt, died of typhoid fever in 1884.
Side effects
Adverse effects include:
Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
Dizziness
Pulmonary hypertension
Coronary artery vasoconstriction
Severe systemic hypertension (especially in patients with pre-eclampsia)
ConvulsionsIn excessive doses, methylergometrine can also lead to cramping, respiratory depression and coma. Interactions
Methylergometrine likely interacts with drugs that inhibit the liver enzyme CYP3A4, such as azole antifungals, macrolide antibiotics and many HIV drugs. It can also increase constriction of blood vessels caused by sympathomimetic drugs and other ergot alkaloids. Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
Methylergometrine is an agonist or antagonist to serotonin, dopamine, and α-adrenergic receptors. Its specific binding and activation pattern on these receptors leads to a highly, if not completely, specific contraction of smooth uterus muscle via serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, while blood vessels are affected to a lesser extent compared to other ergot alkaloids. It has been found to interact with the serotonin 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B, 5-HT1E, 5-HT1F, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, 5-HT2C, 5-HT5A, and 5-HT7 receptors.Methylergometrine is a synthetic analogue of ergometrine, a psychedelic alkaloid found in ergot, and many species of morning glory. Methylergometrine is a member of the ergoline family and chemically similar to LSD, ergine, ergometrine, and lysergic acid. According to Jonathan Ott, methylergometrine produces LSD-like psychedelic effects at doses of 2 mg and above. This can be attributed to due to its agonistic action at the 5-HT2A–mGlu2 receptor protomers. Clinical efficacy occurs around 200 µg, ten times lower than the hallucinogenic threshold.Methylergometrine is an agonist of the serotonin 5-HT2B receptor and has been associated with cardiac valvulopathy.