Sir Owen Questions

Purple

What color change does the Marquis test produce for opiates and alkaloids?

Yellow or Black

What color does the modified AgNO3 paper turn in the Gutzeit Test?

Sodium Nitroprusside

What reagent does Simon's Test use to detect secondary amines and amphetamines?

Ziconotide

What toxin is derived from the Cone Snail?

Tetrodotoxin

What toxin is shared by the pufferfish and the blue-ringed octopus?

Paralysis of the diaphragm

What is the mechanism of respiratory failure caused by tetrodotoxin?

Verrucotoxin

What toxin does the stonefish produce and what are its effects?

Blue Diaper Syndrome

What condition results from unabsorbed tryptophan being converted to indole then indican which oxidizes blue in urine?

Indican

What is the urine compound that turns blue upon oxidation in Blue Diaper Syndrome?

Serotonin / Melatonin / Niacin

Name three biologically important compounds derived from tryptophan.

Musty urine

What is the characteristic urine odor in Phenylketonuria (PKU)?

Black urine

What is the urine color in Alkaptonuria?

Imidazole

What functional group is found in the side chain of histidine?

Lactulose

What is the drug of choice for hyperammonemia caused by arginine defects in the urea cycle?

Diethylene glycol

What nephrotoxic solvent was used in the Elixir Sulfanilamide tragedy causing acute renal failure?

Permanent blindness and metabolic acidosis

What are the two hallmark toxic effects of methanol poisoning?

Polyethylene glycol

What is the active ingredient in Miralax?

Propylene glycol

What glycol is the currently accepted safe pharmaceutical solvent?

Red-orange secretions

What distinctive color change do all bodily secretions take on with rifampin use?

Blue-gray skin discoloration

What chronic skin finding is associated with amiodarone due to iodine combining with lipofuscin?

Green urine

What urine color change is associated with prolonged propofol infusion?

Black tongue and stool

What color changes are caused by bismuth subsalicylate due to bismuth sulfide formation?

Julius Wagner-Jauregg

Who intentionally infected neurosyphilis patients with malaria as pyrotherapy and won a Nobel Prize in 1927?

Quinine from cinchona succirubra

What drug derived from what plant made malaria treatable allowing pyrotherapy to be abandoned?

Mycolic acid layer

What structural feature of Mycobacterium tuberculosis acts as thermal insulation and increases virulence?

Mycobacterium leprae

What organism causes leprosy?

Phocomelia

What limb malformation is caused by thalidomide exposure in utero?

Frances Oldham Kelsey

Who prevented thalidomide approval in the USA protecting pregnant women?

Harvey Wiley

Who founded the FDA and organized the first poison squad in America?

Albert Sabin

Which polio vaccine researcher introduced the oral live attenuated vaccine?

Multiple myeloma

What is the current approved indication for thalidomide?

Plumbism / Burton Line

What is the clinical name for lead poisoning and what gingival sign does it produce?

Mesothelioma

What cancer is specifically associated with asbestos exposure?

Premarin (Pregnant Mare's Urine)

What is the source and composition of the conjugated equine estrogen used in hormone replacement therapy?

Lutein

What carotenoid is rich in pressed marigold umbels?

Homogentisate 1

2-dioxygenase

Hartnup disease

What condition results from tryptophan deficiency and causes pellagra-like symptoms?

Pellagra

What vitamin B3 deficiency disease is associated with Hartnup disease and untreated corn consumption?

Translucent hexagonal crystals

What is the morphology of cystine crystals found in the kidney in cystinuria?

Severe vascular thrombosis / lens dislocation / skeletal abnormalities

What are the three classic triad findings of homocystinuria (methionine metabolism defect)?

Maple Syrup Urine Disease

What aminoacidopathy results from leucine (and other branched-chain amino acid) metabolism defects?

Deinococcus radiodurans

Which bacterium is nicknamed "Conan the Bacterium" for extreme radiation resistance?

Thermus aquaticus

What thermophilic bacterium is the source of Taq polymerase used in PCR?

Halophiles

What class of extremophilic organisms is resistant to high saline environments?

Salvarsan / Compound 606 / Arsphenamine

What was the first modern chemotherapeutic agent used for syphilis and what element did it contain?

Mercury

What heavy metal was used to treat syphilis before arsphenamine?

Antimony

What element-based drug is used to treat leishmaniasis?

Xanthopsia with halos

What visual disturbance is classically described with digoxin toxicity?

Optic neuritis with red-green color disturbance

What ocular toxicity is associated with ethambutol use?

Bull's eye maculopathy

What retinal finding is pathognomonic for chloroquine toxicity?

Corneal microdeposits and optic neuropathy

What two ocular adverse effects are associated with amiodarone?

Blue-tinged vision

What visual side effect is associated with sildenafil use?

Claviceps purpurea

What fungus causes St. Anthony's Fire and is the source of both ergotamine and LSD?

Sydenham's chorea

What is St. Vitus' Dance clinically known as and what condition causes it?

Pyocyanin

What pigment produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes blue-green wound coloration?

2-aminoacetophenone

What compound produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa gives wounds a grape or corn tortilla odor?

Eikenella corrodens

What organism causes wounds to smell like bleach?

Myristic acid / Myristicin

What psychoactive compound is found in nutmeg?

Eugenol

What compound found in cloves is used as a dental analgesic?

Prodigiosin from Serratia marcescens

What pigment produced by what organism explains the historical "Eucharistic miracles" of blood-red bread?

Geosmin from Streptomyces

What compound causes the earthy petrichor smell after rain and what genus produces it?

Streptomyces

What bacterial genus produces over two-thirds of all natural antibiotics?

FMO3 enzyme defect

What enzymatic deficiency causes trimethylaminuria (rotting fish body odor)?

Fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase

What enzyme is absent in tyrosinemia type I causing a boiled cabbage odor?

Isovaleric acidemia (leucine metabolism)

What organic acidemia causes a sweaty feet / pungent cheese odor?

Dimercaprol (BAL)

What chelating agent originally developed as British Anti-Lewisite is used as an antidote for arsenic poisoning?

Tamper-evident packaging

What safety measure was introduced as a direct result of the Tylenol-cyanide poisoning case?

Nixtamalization

What process of treating corn with alkali (lime or wood ash) liberates niacin from niacytin?

Niacytin

What unavailable niacin complex forms when corn is untreated making niacin inaccessible to humans?

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome

What neurological condition results from giving glucose without thiamine (Vitamin B1) to a deficient patient?

Megaloblastic anemia and neural tube defects

What are the two major consequences of folic acid deficiency?

Pernicious anemia

What type of anemia is specifically caused by vitamin B12 deficiency?

Scurvy

What disease results from ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) deficiency?

Radithor (Radium-226 and Radium-228)

What radioactive quack medicine killed socialite Eben Byers?

Thorium

What radioactive element was historically used as an X-ray contrast medium?

Fomepizole or ethanol

What are the two antidotal treatments for ethylene glycol (antifreeze) poisoning and why does ethanol work?

Calcium gluconate

What is the immediate antidote for cardiac stabilization in severe hyperkalemia?

Tyramine

What vasoactive amine found in aged cheese / cured meats causes the potentially fatal cheese reaction in MAOI patients?

Metabolic syndrome

What cluster of adverse effects (obesity / dyslipidemia / hyperglycemia) is associated with atypical antipsychotics like olanzapine and risperidone?

1871 / UST

What year was the oldest pharmacy school in the Philippines established and by which institution?

4-6% acetic acid (vinegar)

What household acid is used to deactivate nematocysts from box jellyfish stings?

Infantile beriberi / thiamine deficiency

What disease killed thousands of Filipino infants during the American colonial period due to rice bran removal during milling?

Physostigmine from Calabar bean

What alkaloid from what plant was used in the African "Trial by Ordeal"?

Grayanotoxin from Rhododendron species

What toxin causes Mad Honey Disease and what is its plant source?

Sodium-gated ion channel blockade

What is the mechanism by which grayanotoxin causes paralysis in Mad Honey Disease?

Hogben Test / Xenopus laevis (African Clawed Frog)

What was the first biological pregnancy test using what animal and what hormone drives it?

Histamine release from mast cell degranulation

What mechanism causes Red Man Syndrome during rapid vancomycin infusion?

Clonus / hyperreflexia / altered mental status

What is the classic triad of serotonin syndrome?

Snow field vision

What distinctive visual disturbance is associated with methanol poisoning?

Zinc (10-14 day course)

What mineral is co-prescribed with ORS for pediatric diarrhea by the Philippine DOH to regenerate the mucosal barrier?