title: Fatal intoxication due to ackee (Blighia sapida) in Suriname and French Guyana. GC-MS detection and quantification of hypoglycin-A.
abstract: Between 1998 and 2001 the deaths of 16 Surinamese children were recorded along the Maroni River, which forms the border between Suriname and French Guyana. After a metabolic origin was eliminated, ethnobotanical research in the field led to a hypothesis of intoxication through the ingestion of ackee. Ackee (Blighia sapida) is a large green leafy tree of West African origin. Its unripe fruit contains large quantities of two toxic molecules: hypoglycin-A and hypoglycin-B, the former being the more toxic. We have developed a GC-MS procedure allowing us to demonstrate the presence of hypoglycin-A in the gastric fluid of one of the deceased children, and to compare the content of hypoglycin-A in fruit collected on the road to Paramaribo in Suriname (5.1mg/g) with samples from Burkina Faso (8.1mg/g) and Jamaica (9.2mg/g). Field research showed the misuse of this little-known plant by Maroon witch doctors. The Bushinengue witch doctors were informed about the dangers of ackee, and no new cases have been reported to date.
authors.affiliation: LAT-LUMTOX, 800 avenue Marie Curie, 07800 La Voulte sur Rhône, France. y.gaillard@latlumtox.com
authors.forename: Yvan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gaillard
authors.forename: Jérémie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carlier
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berscht
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mazoyer
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bevalot
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guitton
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fanton
mesh_terms: D032124:Blighia / Q000506:poisoning*; D002648:Child; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D005616:French Guiana; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007005:Hypoglycins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000506:poisoning; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010939:Plant Poisoning / Q000175:diagnosis; D013532:Suriname
chemical_list: D007005:Hypoglycins