Association of high cyanide and low sulphur intake in cassava-induced spastic paraparesis

Abstract

Urinary excretion of sulphur compounds was studied in children from a population in Mozambique that had been affected, during a drought, by an epidemic of spastic paraparesis attributed to cyanide exposure from cassava. The children had increased thiocyanate and decreased inorganic sulphate excretion, indicating high cyanide and low sulphur-containing amino-acid intake. Children from a neighbouring cassava-eating area, where no cases of spastic paraparesis had occurred, had lower thiocyanate excretion but higher inorganic sulphate excretion. These results support the hypothesis that the epidemic was due to the combined effects of high dietary cyanide exposure and sulphur deficiency.