Haimanot R T, Kidane Y, Wuhib E, Kassina A, Endeshaw Y, Alemu T, Spencer P S
Faculty of Medicine, Addis Abeba University, Ethiopia.
Ethiop Med J. 1993 Jan;31(1):15-24.
Lathyrism is a neurotoxic disorder caused by excessive, prolonged consumption of the hardy, environmentally tolerant legume, the grass-pea, Lathyrus sativus, which contains the neurotoxic amino acid beta-N-oxalylamino-L-alanine acid (BOAA). The disease develops after heavy consumption of grass-pea for over two months. It is uniformly manifested by a predominantly motor spastic paraparesis with varying degrees of disability. A door-to-door epidemiological survey for the disease using trained lay health workers was carried out in the major areas of northwest and central Ethiopia where L. sativus is grown. For security reasons, some of the other endemic areas wre not accessible for the survey. The survey involved a population of 1,011,272. A total of 3,026 affected persons were identified. The disease was found to be widespread in the northwest and central highland areas of the country. The prevalence rates ranged from 1/10,000 to 7.5/1,000. The highest prevalences were in North and South Gonder, and East and West Gojam. The male:female ratio of cases was 2.6:1; the females exhibited a milder form of the disease. The cultivation of L. sativus is increasing in Ethiopia, which makes the development of low-BOAA strains very important in order to control the high incidence of lathyrism, a crippling disease which affects the productive young members of the society.
山黧豆中毒是一种神经毒性疾病，由过度、长期食用耐寒且适应环境的豆科植物山黧豆（Lathyrus sativus）引起，该植物含有神经毒性氨基酸β-N-草酰氨基-L-丙氨酸（BOAA）。大量食用山黧豆超过两个月后会发病。其症状主要表现为以运动性痉挛性截瘫为主，伴有不同程度的残疾。在埃塞俄比亚西北部和中部种植山黧豆的主要地区，利用经过培训的非专业卫生工作者开展了针对该疾病的挨家挨户的流行病学调查。出于安全原因，其他一些流行地区无法进行调查。此次调查涉及1,011,272人。共识别出3,026名患者。发现该疾病在该国西北部和中部高地地区广泛存在。患病率从万分之一到千分之七点五不等。患病率最高的地区是北贡德尔和南贡德尔，以及东戈贾姆和西戈贾姆。病例的男女比例为2.6:1；女性患者的病情表现较轻。在埃塞俄比亚，山黧豆的种植面积正在增加，因此培育低BOAA含量的品种对于控制山黧豆中毒的高发病率非常重要，这种致残性疾病会影响社会中有生产能力的年轻成员。
