title: Association between children death and consumption of Cassia occidentalis seeds: clinical and experimental investigations.
abstract: Recently, children with high mortality rate have been observed in northern parts of India, for which the etiology is still not established, although a case control study has been linked to the consumption of Cassia occidentalis (CO) seeds. In the present investigation toxicity of CO seeds (0.5, 1 and 2% w/w) in diet were carried out in wistar rats. After 28 days it was observed that CO seeds caused significant increases in the serum markers viz transaminases, alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase along with histopathological lesions in hepatic tissue. CO consumption also showed decrease in grip strength, vacuolization and myopathy of skeletal muscles along with increases in serum creatinine and creatinine phosphokinase suggesting muscular damage in animals. Neuronal damage in CO treated animals was evident by a marked increase in glial fibrilar acidic protein and decrease in β-tubulin III. The experimental findings of CO consumption showed liver, muscles and brain to be the target organs, which were similar to that of the clinical data of poisoning cases as observed in the present study. Overall, the study suggests that CO seed consumption is the main etiological factor in children population suffering from hepatomyoencephalopathy in India.
authors.affiliation: Food, Drug and Chemical Toxicology Division, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India; Department of Medical Elementology and Toxicology, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Gatikrushna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Panigrahi
authors.affiliation: Developmental Toxicology Division, CSIR-IITR, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Shashikant
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tiwari
authors.affiliation: Food, Drug and Chemical Toxicology Division, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Kausar M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.affiliation: Developmental Toxicology Division, CSIR-IITR, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Rajnish K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
authors.affiliation: Developmental Toxicology Division, CSIR-IITR, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Vinay K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Khanna
authors.affiliation: Pathology Laboratory, CSIR-IITR, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Bhushan P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Chaudhari
authors.affiliation: Mangla Hospital and Research Centre, Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Vipin M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Vashistha
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Elementology and Toxicology, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raisuddin
authors.affiliation: Food, Drug and Chemical Toxicology Division, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Electronic address: mditrc@rediffmail.com.
authors.forename: Mukul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Das
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D011041:Poisoning / Q000401:mortality*; D012639:Seeds / Q000633:toxicity*; D029846:Senna Plant / Q000196:embryology*
keywords: Cassia occidentalis seed; Children; Hepatomyoencephalopathy; Hepatotoxicity; Myopathy