phosphinothricin and Nervous-System-Diseases

Herbicides containing glufosinate ammonium are widely used in many countries including Japan. Many Japanese cases of accidental and suicidal poisoning by glufosinate have been reported since 1989. We report a case of a 64-year old man who ingested glufosinate in an attempted suicide. The patient suffered mental disturbances and hematological changes together with gastrointestinal effects shortly after ingesting the poison, and later developed generalized convulsions, impaired respiration and circulatory failure. During recovery he exhibited loss of short-term memory (retrograde and anterograde amnesia). Neurotoxicity is a characteristic of glufosinate poisoning, although the mechanism is not clear. From the analysis of clinical symptoms of previously published cases, glufosinate toxicity appears to arise both from the active ingredient and the surfactant in the formulation.

Topics: Aminobutyrates; Enzyme Inhibitors; Herbicides; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nervous System Diseases

Central nervous system (CNS) complications such as seizures and reduced consciousness are important in glufosinate and may occur in severe glyphosate poisoning. The aim of this study was to assess the possible role of serum S100B protein as a biochemical marker of CNS complications associated with glyphosate or glufosinate poisoning.. The study enrolled 40 patients (23 glyphosate poisoning and 17 glufosinate poisoning). Altered consciousness and seizure were observed during hospitalization. S100B level was measured with fully automated modular analytic E170 system using electrochemoluminometric immunoassay.. Among 40 patients, neurologic features were observed in 12 patients with a median time to onset of 21.5 (IQR 8.25-24.75) h. Serum S100B concentrations measured on admission were higher in the group with neurologic features than in the group without neurologic features [0.148 μg/L (IQR 0.128-0.248) vs. 0.072 μg/L (IQR 0.047-0.084), p < .001]. Univariate analysis of measured patient raw parameters using a ROC curve showed that S100B was a significant predictor of neurologic features in glyphosate and glufosinate poisoning. The area under the ROC curve was 0.894 (95% confidential interval 0.791-0.998). When S100B was set at 0.0965, its sensitivity and specificity for predicting neurologic features in glyphosate and glufosinate poisoning were 92% and 82%, respectively.. In our pilot study, S100B was a significant predictor of neurologic complications in patients with glyphosate and glufosinate poisoning. Large prospective cohorts are needed to confirm this finding.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Aminobutyrates; Biomarkers; Consciousness; Glycine; Glyphosate; Humans; Logistic Models; Middle Aged; Nervous System Diseases; Pilot Projects; Poisoning; Prospective Studies; ROC Curve; S100 Proteins; Seizures; Sensitivity and Specificity