Ergot

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Ergot, name used interchangeably for a disease of rye, for the fungus causing the disease, for the sclerotium (compact hardened mycelium, or fruiting surface) of the fungus, and for the dried sclerotium, which contains certain valuable drugs.

Ergot fungi are molds that infect rye and other cereals and wild grasses. The filamentous mycelium of the mold spreads through the tissues of the flower and attacks the ovaries, which become deformed and enlarged and then wither. The deeper mycelium within the ovary becomes dense and hard, forming sclerotium.

The dried sclerotium as used in medicine contains the crystalline alkaloids ergotamine, C33H35N5O5, and ergotinine, C35H39N5O5, and the amorphous alkaloid ergotoxine, C35H39N5O5. Histamine is also present in minute quantities. In moderate doses ergotamine causes the contraction of unstriped muscle fibers, such as those in terminal arterioles. It is used to control hemorrhage and to promote contraction of the uterus during childbirth; it is used also to treat migraine headaches. In large doses the drug paralyzes the motor nerve endings of the sympathetic nervous system. Ergotism, a disease of humans and animals, is caused by excessive intake of ergot: in humans, either by the overuse of the drug or by eating breadstuffs made with infected flour, and in cattle, by the eating of ergot-infected grain and grass. Acute and chronic ergotism are characterized by mental disorientation, muscle cramps, convulsions, and dry gangrene of the extremities. One of the psychoactive drugs, LSD is chemically related to the ergot alkaloids.

Scientific classification: Ergot fungi belong to the genus Claviceps, of the family Clavicipitaceae.

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