Excretion of causative PCDFs congeners of Yusho by one year intake of FBRA in patients with Yusho.

Thirty-eight years have passed since the outbreak of Kanemi rice oil poisoning, namely, Yusho in the western Japan. However, even now the patients with Yusho have been still suffering from several objective and subjective symptoms. In order to improve or, if possible, to cure the such symptoms, the most important therapeutic treatment is considered to actively excrete the causative agents, that is, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) from the bodies of the patients and to reduce their body burdens. In rats, dietary fiber and chlorophyll have been shown to promote the fecal excretion of dioxins and to reduce their levels in rat liver. In this study, we examined whether such kinds of effect were also observed by FBRA, which was the health food and relatively rich with dietary fiber and chlorophyll, in eighteen patients with Yusho, which were divided into two groups, namely group A, ten patients (Male: 3 and Female: 7) with the mean age of 67.7 years old and group B, eight patients (Male: 4 and Female: 4) with the mean age of 64.1 years. Respective mean concentrations of the three PCDF congeners, that is, 2,3,4,7,8-PenCDF, 1,2,3,4,7,8-HxCDF and 1,2,3,6,7,8-HxCDF in the blood on whole weight basis just before initiating this study were as follows; group A: 1.36, 0.491 and 0.150 pg/g, and group B: 0.571, 0.159 and 0. 064 pg/g. Contamination levels of these PCDF congeners in group A were 2 to 3 times higher than those in group B. Group A took 7.0 to 10.5g of FBRA after each meal and tree times a day for the first one year and for second one year, they did not take FBRA any more. Group B took FBRA with the same manner as the group A only for the second one year. The concentrations of these PCDFs congeners in the blood of groups A and B were also measured at the end of first and second year, respectively. Assuming that the lipid content of the blood is 0.3% in order to convert their concentrations on whole weight basis to those on lipid weight basis and also that the body fat is contaminated with these PCDF congeners at their concentrations on lipid weight basis and the content of body fat is 20% of the body weight (60 kg), we computed the average amounts in the net excretion of these PCDF congeners from the body of the patients due to the intake of FBRA in groups A and B. As a result, in group A, 120, 372 and 96 ng/patient of 2,3,4,7,8-PenCDF, 1,2,3,4,7,8-HxCDF and 1,2,3,6,7,8-HxCDF, respectively, were excreted from the body of the patients. In group B, however, 36 ng/patient of 2,3,4,7,8-PenCDF only was excreted, but other two PCDF congeners were not. Accordingly, promotive excretion of theses PCDF congeners from the patients with Yusho seemed much effective in group A, of which their concentrations in the blood were much higher than those of group B.