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Evidence of osteolathyrism among patients suffering from neurolathyrism in Bangladesh

✍ Scribed by Anisul Haque; Muffazal Hossain; Fernand Lambein; E. Arthur Bell


Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
2006
Tongue
English
Weight
12 KB
Volume
5
Category
Article
ISSN
1056-9014

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✦ Synopsis


In a study of 500 patients suffering from neurolathyrism in Bangladesh it was found that 60 (all male) complained of bone pain and showed skeletal deformities suggestive of osteolathyrism. On X-ray examination a failure of fusion in both vertebral and iliac epiphyses was found in two patients. At the age of these patients (30 and 37 years) such failure was considered a clear evidence of osteolathyrism. All 60 patients were accustomed to eating the green parts of Lathyrus sativus, which contain 2-cyanoethyl-isoxazolin-5-one, a compound that chemically and metabolically can produce the osteolathyrogen b-aminopropionitrile (BAPN), as well as foods made from the seeds of the same plant which contain the neurotoxin 3-N-oxalyl-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (b-ODAP). Nat. Toxins 5:43-46, 1997.