Litchi was the cause of the death of an unexplained neurological illness in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur. It took nearly 100 lives each year till 2014.
Scientists from the US and India, after a joint investigation, have concluded that consuming litchi –a tropical fruit Muzaffarpur is famous for- on an empty stomach triggers the illness and death.
The mysterious illness, was characterised by acute seizures and changed mental status for nearly two decades. Similar cases have been reported from Malda in West Bengal.
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The naturally-occurring toxins that are found in litchis –hypoglycin A and methylenecyclopropylglycine (MPCG) – disrupt the fatty acid metabolism, leading to acutely low levels of blood sugar, especially when they have missed the meals the previous day. This further affects brain function, leading to acute seizures and stroke.
In 2013, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in India and US Center for Disease Control initiated a joint investigation into the matter.The reserach findings have been published in the latest issue of medical journal The Lancet.
“This study, to the best of our knowledge, is the largest investigation of the Muzaffarpur outbreak and the first comprehensive confirmation that this recurring outbreak illness is associated with litchi consumption and toxicity from both hypoglycin A and MPCG. We confirm the presence of MPCG and hypoglycin in litchis, and, for the first time, our data shows the metabolites of these toxins in human biological specimens, the biological impact of these toxins on human metabolism, and the modifying effect of the lack of an evening meal of the impact of these toxins,” scientists report in the Lancet study.