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Ergotism (pronounced UR-gət-iz-əm) is the effect of long-term ergot poisoning, traditionally due to the ingestion of the alkaloids produced by the Claviceps purpurea fungus—from the Latin clava "club" or clavus "nail" and -ceps for "head", i.e. the purple club-headed fungus—that infects rye and other cereals, and more recently by the action of a number of ergoline-based drugs.

It is also known as ergotoxicosis, ergot poisoning, and Saint Anthony's fire.

Ergotism is the effect of long-term ergot poisoning. The symptoms can be roughly divided into convulsive symptoms and gangrenous symptoms. Ergot alkaloids, the active compounds produced by the ergot fungus, can cause severe vasoconstriction, leading to symptoms like gangrene and convulsions.

Historically, eating grain products, particularly rye, contaminated with the fungus Claviceps purpurea was the cause of ergotism.

Throughout history, at least 83 outbreaks of ergotism have been documented, particularly in Europe. One of the most notable incidents occurred in 944 AD in France, where ergot poisoning led to widespread hallucinations, gangrene, and convulsions. Another possible case is associated with the Salem witch trials in 1692, where some historians believe ergotism may have contributed to the symptoms reported by the accusers. Rye, the main vector (route) for transmitting ergotism, was not grown much around the Mediterranean. When Fuchs separated references to ergotism from erysipelas and other conditions in 1834, he found the earliest reference to ergotism in the Annales Xantenses for the year 857: "a great plague of swollen blisters consumed the people by a loathsome rot, so that their limbs were loosened and fell off before death". In the Middle Ages the gangrenous poisoning was known as "holy fire" or "Saint Anthony's fire", named after monks of the Order of St. According to Snorri Sturluson in his Heimskringla, King Magnus II of Norway, son of King Harald Sigurtharson, who was the half-brother of Saint King Olaf Haraldsson, died from ergotism shortly after the Battle of Hastings. The 12th-century chronicler Geoffroy du Breuil of Vigeois recorded the mysterious outbreaks in the Limousin region of France, where the gangrenous form of ergotism was associated with the local Saint Martial. Notable epidemics of ergotism occurred into the first half of the 20th century, as in the Italian island of Alicudi, although fewer outbreaks have occurred in modern times owing to rye being carefully monitored in developed countries. However, a severe outbreak of something akin to ergot poisoning occurred in the French village of Pont-Saint-Esprit in 1951, resulting in nearly 250 people affected and seven deaths. Poisonings due to consumption of seeds treated with mercury compounds are sometimes misidentified as ergotism.

In 1982, historian Mary Matossian raised Caporael's theory in an article in American Scientist, in which she argued that symptoms of "bewitchment" resemble the ones exhibited in those affected by ergot poisoning. They noted that if ergotism was present in Salem, the symptoms would have occurred by household, not individual. Lastly, they note that convulsive ergotism epidemics only take place in communities suffering from vitamin A deficiencies; they argued that residents of Salem, living in a farming community with ample access to dairy, would have had no reason to be deficient in vitamin A. Therefore, an outbreak of ergotism as the cause of the Salem epidemic was unlikely. Sidky noted that ergotism had been known for centuries before the Salem witch trials and argued that its symptoms would have been recognizable during the time of the Salem witch trials. This may explain the different manifestations of ergotism in different outbreaks. For example, an alkaloid present in high concentrations in ergots from Europe east of the Rhine may have caused convulsive ergotism, while ergot from the west caused epidemics of gangrenous ergotism.

In medieval Europe, outbreaks of ergotism were sometimes interpreted as divine punishment or witchcraft.

The prevalence of ergotism was closely linked to environmental conditions, such as cold, damp weather, which promoted the growth of the ergot fungus.

Quick Facts

• Ergotism is the effect of long-term ergot poisoning.
• It is also known as ergotoxicosis, ergot poisoning, and Saint Anthony's fire.
• For example, an alkaloid present in high concentrations in ergots from Europe east of the Rhine may have caused convulsive ergotism, while ergot from the west caused epidemics of gangrenous ergotism.
• Another possible case is associated with the Salem witch trials in 1692, where some historians believe ergotism may have contributed to the symptoms reported by the accusers.
• Ergot alkaloids, the active compounds produced by the ergot fungus, can cause severe vasoconstriction, leading to symptoms like gangrene and convulsions.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Ergotism". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.