Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2015 Dec 31;5(2):104-6.
doi: 10.14581/jer.15018. eCollection 2015 Dec.

Ginkgotoxin Induced Seizure Caused by Vitamin B6 Deficiency

Hyun-Soon Jang  1 , Sook Young Roh  1 , Eun Hye Jeong  1 , Byung-Su Kim  1 , Mun Kyung Sunwoo  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Ginkgotoxin Induced Seizure Caused by Vitamin B6 Deficiency

Hyun-Soon Jang et al. J Epilepsy Res. .

Abstract

Although ginkgo is commonly used as an alternative treatment for memory loss, Alzheimer's dementia and peripheral circulatory disturbances, it is also known to cause neuronal symptoms due to ginkgotoxin (4'-methoxypyridoxine or B6 antivitamin). We experienced a case of a 51-year-old female patient with generalized tonic clonic seizure and postictal confusion after eating large amounts of ginkgo nuts. Blood vitamin B6 level was decreased. After conservative treatment and pyridoxine medication, her mental symptoms were resolved completely and no seizures recurred.

Keywords: Ginkgotoxin; Seizure; Vitamin B6 deficiency.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
EEG findings. (A) Initial nasopharyngeal EEG showed intermittent generalized slowing (arrow) and there is no epileptiform discharge. (B) Follow up EEG showed normal EEG finding. EEG, electroencephalography.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Metabolism of vitamin B6. K, pyridoxal kinase; O, pyridoxine (pyridoxamine) 5′-phosphate oxidase; P, phosphatase; GAD, glutamate decarboxylase. GABA, gamma-aminobutyric acid.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Singh B, Kaur P, Gopichand, Singh RD, Ahuja PS. Biology and chemistry of Ginkgo biloba. Fitoterapia. 2008;79:401–18. - PubMed
    1. Granger AS. Ginkgo biloba precipitating epileptic seizures. Age and Ageing. 2001;30:523–5. - PubMed
    1. Wada K, Ishigaki S, Ueda K, Sakata M, Haga M. An antivitamin B6, 4′-methoxypyridoxine, from the seed of Ginkgo biloba L. Chem Pharm Bull. 1985;33:3555–7. - PubMed
    1. Kastner U, Hallmen C, Wiese M, Leistner E, Drewke C. The human pyridoxal kinase, a plausible target for ginkgotoxin from Ginkgo biloba. FEBS J. 2007;274:1036–45. - PubMed
    1. Merrill AH, Jr, Henderson JM, Wang E, McDonald BW, Millikan WJ. Metabolism of vitamin B-6 by human liver. J Nutr. 1984;114:1664–74. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources