research on motor neuron diseases konzo and neurolathyrism trends from 1990 to 2010研究运动神经元疾病konzo和neurolathyrism趋势从1990年到2010年.pdfVIP

Research on Motor Neuron Diseases Konzo and Neurolathyrism: Trends from 1990 to 2010 1,2 2 2 2 Delphin Diasolua Ngudi , Yu-Haey Kuo , Marc Van Montagu , Fernand Lambein * 1 Programme National de Nutrition (PRONANUT), Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2 Institute of Plant Biotechnology Outreach (IPBO), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Abstract Konzo (caused by consumption of improperly processed cassava, Manihot esculenta) and neurolathyrism (caused by prolonged overconsumption of grass pea, Lathyrus sativus) are two distinct non-infectious upper motor neurone diseases with identical clinical symptoms of spastic paraparesis of the legs. They affect many thousands of people among the poor in the remote rural areas in the central and southern parts of Africa afflicting them with konzo in Ethiopia and in the Indian sub-continent with neurolathyrism. Both diseases are toxico-nutritional problems due to monotonous consumption of starchy cassava roots or protein-rich grass pea seeds as a staple, especially during drought and famine periods. Both foods contain toxic metabolites (cyanogenic glycosides in cassava and the neuro-excitatory amino acid b-ODAP in grass pea) that are blamed for theses diseases. The etiology is also linked to the deficiency in the essential sulfur amino acids that protect against oxidative stress. The two diseases are not considered reportable by the World Health Organization (WHO) and only estimated numbers can be found. This paper analyzes research performance and determines scientific interest in konzo and neurolathyrism. A literature search of over 21 years (from 1990 to 2010) shows that in terms of scientific publications there is little intere