Lathyrism

Last updated
Lathyrism
Specialty Toxicology
Symptoms Weakness, fatigue, paralysis of the legs, atrophy of leg muscles, and skeletal deformities
Usual onsetGradual
DurationPermanent
Types Neurolathyrism
Osteolathyrism
Angiolathyrism
CausesOverconsumption of Legumes containing ODAP (neurolathyrism) or beta-aminopropionitrile (angio- and osteolathyrism)
Diagnostic method Based on symptoms and diet
Treatment Supportive care
FrequencyRare

Lathyrism is a condition caused by eating certain legumes of the genus Lathyrus . There are three types of lathyrism: neurolathyrism , osteolathyrism , and angiolathyrism , all of which are incurable, differing in their symptoms and in the body tissues affected. [1]

Contents

Neurolathyrism is the type associated with the consumption of legumes in the genus Lathyrus that contain the toxin oxalyldiaminopropionic acid (ODAP). ODAP ingestion results in motor neuron death. The result is paralysis and muscle atrophy of the lower limbs. Osteolathyrism, a different type of lathyrism, affects the connective tissues, not the motor neurons. [2] Osteolathyrism results from the ingestion of Lathyrus odoratus seeds (sweet peas), and is often referred to as odoratism. It is caused by a different toxin, beta-aminopropionitrile, which affects the linking of the subunits of collagen, a major structural protein found in connective tissue. A third type of lathyrism is angiolathyrism, which is similar to osteolathyrism in its mechanism, employing the toxin beta-aminopropionitrile. The blood vessels are affected, as opposed to bone.

Types

Neurolathyrism

Neurolathyrism is caused by the consumption of large quantities of Lathyrus grain, specifically the grains in the genus that contain the glutamate analogue neurotoxin ODAP (also known as β-N-oxalyl-amino-L-alanine, or BOAA). Lathyrus sativus (also known as grass pea, chickling pea, kesari dal, or almorta) and to a lesser degree with Lathyrus cicera , Lathyrus ochrus and Lathyrus clymenum [3]

Osteolathyrism

Osteolathyrism affects the bones and connecting tissues, instead of the nervous system. It is a skeletal disorder. It is caused by the toxin BAPN, which inhibits the copper-containing enzyme lysyl oxidase, responsible for cross-linking tropocollagen and proelastin. BAPN is also a metabolic product of a compound present in the sprouted seeds of grasspea, pea and lentil. [4]

Angiolathyrism

Angiolathyrism affects the collagen in blood capillaries. It is also caused by the toxin beta-aminopropionitrile.[ citation needed ]

Prevention

Eating the grasspea with legumes having high concentrations of sulphur-based amino acids reduces the risk of lathyrism if such grain is available. Some states in India have banned the sale of Lathyrus seed in order to prevent its consumption, which in turn lessens the possibility of lathyrism in the general population. [5]

History

The first mentioned intoxication goes back to ancient India. Hippocrates mentions a neurological disorder in 46 B.C. in Greece caused by Lathyrus seed. [6]

During the Spanish War of Independence against Napoleon, grasspea served as a famine food. This was the subject of one of Francisco de Goya's famous aquatint prints titled Gracias a la Almorta ("Thanks to the Grasspea"), depicting poor people surviving on a porridge made from grasspea flour, one of them lying on the floor, already crippled by it.[ citation needed ]

During the Second World War, on the order of Colonel I. Murgescu, commandant of the Vapniarka concentration camp in Transnistria, the detainees - most of them Jews - were fed nearly exclusively with grasspea. Consequently, they became ill from lathyrism. [7]

Disorders that are clinically similar are konzo and Lytico-bodig disease.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bean</span> Seed of one of several genera of the plant family Fabaceae

A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pea</span> Species of flowering plant with edible seeds in the family Fabaceae

Pea is a pulse, vegetable or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species, formerly 'Pisum sativum', it has been proposed to rename the species as Lathyrus oleraceus. Each pod contains several seeds (peas), which can have green or yellow cotyledons when mature. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and develop from the ovary of a (pea) flower. The name is also used to describe other edible seeds from the Fabaceae such as the pigeon pea, the cowpea, the seeds from several species of Lathyrus and is used as a compound form for example Sturt's desert pea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healing</span> Process of the restoration of health

With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area and replace it with new living tissue. The replacement can happen in two ways: by regeneration in which the necrotic cells are replaced by new cells that form "like" tissue as was originally there; or by repair in which injured tissue is replaced with scar tissue. Most organs will heal using a mixture of both mechanisms.

<i>Lathyrus</i> Plant genus in the pea family Fabaceae

Lathyrus is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, and contains approximately 160 species. Commonly known as peavines or vetchlings, they are native to temperate areas, with a breakdown of 52 species in Europe, 30 species in North America, 78 in Asia, 24 in tropical East Africa, and 24 in temperate South America. There are annual and perennial species which may be climbing or bushy. This genus has numerous sections, including Orobus, which was once a separate genus. The genus has numerous synonyms, including Pisum, the ancient Latin name for the pea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sprouting</span> Practice of germinating seeds to be eaten raw or cooked

Sprouting is the natural process by which seeds or spores germinate and put out shoots, and already established plants produce new leaves or buds, or other structures experience further growth.

<i>Lathyrus sativus</i> Species of plant in the pea family

Lathyrus sativus, also known as grass pea, cicerchia, blue sweet pea, chickling pea, chickling vetch, Indian pea, white pea and white vetch, is a legume commonly grown for human consumption and livestock feed in Asia and East Africa. It is a particularly important crop in areas that are prone to drought and famine, and is thought of as an 'insurance crop' as it produces reliable yields when all other crops fail. The seeds contain a neurotoxin that causes lathyrism, a neurodegenerative disease, if eaten as a primary protein source for a prolonged period.

<i>Vicia</i> Genus of flowering plants in the bean family Fabaceae

Vicia is a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family (Fabaceae), and which are commonly known as vetches. Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Some other genera of their subfamily Faboideae also have names containing "vetch", for example the vetchlings (Lathyrus) or the milk-vetches (Astragalus). The lentils are included in genus Vicia, and were formerly classified in genus Lens. The broad bean is sometimes separated in a monotypic genus Faba; although not often used today, it is of historical importance in plant taxonomy as the namesake of the order Fabales, the Fabaceae and the Faboideae. The tribe Vicieae in which the vetches are placed is named after the genus' current name. The true peas (Pisum) are among the closest living relatives of vetches.

Neurolathyrism, is a neurological disease of humans, caused by eating certain legumes of the genus Lathyrus. This disease is mainly associated with the consumption of Lathyrus sativus and to a lesser degree with Lathyrus cicera, Lathyrus ochrus and Lathyrus clymenum containing the toxin ODAP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whole grain</span> Cereal containing endosperm, germ, and bran

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collagen, type XI, alpha 2</span> Protein found in humans

Collagen alpha-2(XI) chain is a protein that in humans is encoded by the COL11A2 gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet pea</span> Species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae

The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to Sicily, southern Italy and the Aegean Islands.

Lytico-bodig (also Lytigo-bodig) disease, Guam disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-parkinsonism-dementia (ALS-PDC) is a neurodegenerative disease of uncertain etiology endemic to the Chamorro people of the island of Guam in Micronesia. Lytigo and bodig are Chamorro language words for two different manifestations of the same condition. ALS-PDC, a term coined by Asao Hirano and colleagues in 1961, reflects its resemblance to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

β-Methylamino-<small>L</small>-alanine Chemical compound

β-Methylamino-L-alanine, or BMAA, is a non-proteinogenic amino acid produced by cyanobacteria. BMAA is a neurotoxin. Its potential role in various neurodegenerative disorders is the subject of scientific research.

Osteolathyrism, sometimes referred to as odoratism, is a form of the disease Lathyrism. The disease results from the ingestion of Lathyrus odoratus seeds. The toxin found in the sweet peas is (beta-aminopropionitrile), which affects the linking of collagen, a protein of connective tissues. The condition results in damage to bone and mesenchymal connective tissues. Osteolathyrism occurs in people in combination with neurolathyrism and angiolathyrism in areas where famine demands reliance on a crop with known detrimental effects. It occurs in cattle and horses with diets overreliant upon the grass pea. Prominent symptoms include skeletal deformities and bone pain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxalyldiaminopropionic acid</span> Chemical compound

Oxalyldiaminopropionic acid (ODAP) is a structural analogue of the neurotransmitter glutamate found in the grass pea Lathyrus sativus. It is the neurotoxin responsible for the motor neuron degeneration syndrome lathyrism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gachas</span> Andalusian staple dish

Gachas is an ancestral basic dish of central and southern Spain. It is a gruel whose main ingredients are flour, water, olive oil, garlic, paprika and salt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aminopropionitrile</span> Chemical compound

Aminopropionitrile, also known as β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN), is an organic compound with both amine and nitrile functional groups. It is a colourless liquid. The compound occurs naturally and is of interest in the biomedical community.

Angiolathyrism is a form of lathyrism disease. It is mainly caused the consumption of Lathyrus sativus and to a lesser degree by Lathyrus cicera, Lathyrus ochrus and Lathyrus clymenum containing the toxin ODAP. The main chemical responsible is β-Aminopropionitrile, which prevents collagen cross-linking, thus making the blood vessel, especially the tunica media, weak. This can result in Cystic medial necrosis or a picture similar to Marfan syndrome. The damaged vessels are at an increased risk of dissection.

Perdur Radhakantha Adiga was an Indian endocrine biochemist, reproductive biologist, INSA Senior Scientist and an Astra chair professor of the Indian Institute of Science. He was known for his researches on vitamin-carrier proteins and Lathyrus sativus and was an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Medical Sciences in 1980.

Lathyrism is a class of neurological disease of humans.

References

  1. "Lathyrus". AACC. The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC). Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  2. Ahmad, Kamal (1982). Adverse Effects of Foods. Springer, Massachusetts: Springer US. pp. 71–2. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-3359-3_8. ISBN   978-1-4613-3359-3.
  3. "Medical problems caused by plants: Lathyrism" Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine at Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine online database
  4. COHN, D.F. (1995) "Are other systems apart from the nervous system involved in human lathyrism?" in Lathyrus sativus and Human Lathyrism: Progress and Prospects. Ed. Yusuf H, Lambein F. University of Dhaka. Dhaka pp. 101-2.
  5. Singh, S. P.; Bhawnani, Dhiraj; Parihar, Ajit; Verma, Nirmal (15 September 2016). "An epidemiological study on incidence and determinants of Lathyrism". The Journal of Community Health Management. 3 (3): 113–122. doi:10.5958/2394-2738.2016.00025.X. ISSN   2394-2738. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  6. Mark V. Barrow; Charles F. Simpson; Edward J. Miller (1974). "Lathyrism: A Review". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 49 (2): 101–128. doi:10.1086/408017. JSTOR   2820941. PMID   4601279. S2CID   33451792.
  7. isurvived.org: The Holocaust in Romania Under the Antonescu Government, by Marcu Rozen.