A simplified method to evaluate the acute toxicity of ricin and ricinus agglutinin.

A brief method is described for the assessment of lethal toxicity of ricin and ricinus agglutinin using a modified LD(50) assay. With this test, it is possible to obtain an LD(50) using only 10 experimental animals. The equation for calculating the confidence limit of LD(50) is derived in this article. The LD(50) values obtained with the method were compared with data reported in the literature using classical methods. The results indicate that the simplified method for evaluating the acute toxicity of ricin and ricinus agglutinin gives reliable results. For scientific, economic and ethical reason the method is suggested to replace the traditional LD(50) assay for plant toxins.