ABSTRACT
Atropine is an alkaloid, originally derived from the plant Atropa belladonna, but the compound is also found in other plants, mainly of the Solanaceae family. Atropine functions as a sympathetic, competitive antagonist of muscarinic cholinergic receptors, thereby abolishing the effects of parasympathetic stimulation. In an early study from France, 3% of hospitalized patients had contact allergy to atropine in eye drops. Before 1982, in Germany, 11 of 25 patients with periocular dermatitis due to ophthalmological treatment had positive patch tests to atropine eye drops, but the ingredients including atropine itself were not tested, data cited in refs. Patch tests with the ophthalmologic preparations he had received showed a positive patch test reaction to atropine sulfate 1% water. Patch tests with both preparations were performed and a positive reaction to the 1% atropine preparation, and later to atropine sulfate 1% water, was elicited.
