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3-Nitropropionic Acid - Exogenous Animal Neurotoxin and Possible Human Striatal Toxin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

A.C. Ludolph ,
F. He ,
P.S. Spencer ,
J. Hammerstad  and
M. Sabri
A.C. Ludolph*
Affiliation:
Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, Portland, Oregon Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon
F. He
Affiliation:
Institute of Occupational Medicine, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, Beijing, People's Republic of China
P.S. Spencer
Affiliation:
Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, Portland, Oregon Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon
J. Hammerstad
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon
M. Sabri
Affiliation:
Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, Portland, Oregon Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon
*
Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, Oregon Health Sciences University, 3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. 97201
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Abstract:

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3-Nitropropionic acid (3-NPA) — a suicide inhibitor of succinate dehydrogenase — is a widely distributed plant and fungal neurotoxin known to induce damage to basal ganglia, hippocampus, spinal tracts and peripheral nerves in animals. Recent reports from Northern China indicate that 3-NPA is also likely to be responsible for the development of putaminal necrosis with delayed dystonia in children after ingestion of mildewed sugar cane. This article discusses the role of 3-NPA in the causation of the disease in China, its neurotoxic effects in animals and the potential role for this compound as a probe of selective neuronal vulnerability.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , November 1991 , pp. 492 - 498
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1991

References

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