Atypical parkinsonian syndromes are abnormally frequent in the French West Indies.
They were linked epidemiologically to the consumption, for alimentary and medicinal
means, of plants of the Annonaceae family, suggesting a possible toxic etiology [1,2].
We showed Annonaceous acetogenins, such as annonacin, to be neurotoxicants, in several
in vitro [3,4] and in vivo [5,6] paradigms, with: a) degeneration in animals being reminiscent of post-mortem
observations in patients at autopsy; b) influence on the distribution and expression
of tau protein, e.g. in Tau transgenic mouse models. Nevertheless, we determined important
concentrations of acetogenins in pulps and fruit juices of several edible Annona species [7,8] (A. muricata, A. squamosa), whereas leave tea only contained low amounts of these molecules. Alimentary consumption
of several Annonaceae species would therefore be a major source of exposure to environmental
neurotoxins. Our research efforts on these themes are ongoing.
High incidences of atypical parkinsonisms associated to Annonaceae were reported in
several other countries. This public health issue could therefore constitute a worldwide
problem, which urgently needs epidemiological reassesment [9,10].
References: 1. Caparros-Lefèbvre, D. et al. (1999) Lancet 354:281–286. 2. Lannuzel,
A. et al. (2007) Brain, 130: 816–827. 3. Lannuzel, A. et al (2003) Neuroscience 121:
287–296. 4. Escobar-Khondiker, M. et al. (2007)J. Neurosciences 27:7827–7837. 5. Champy,
P. et al. (2004)J Neurochem. 88: 63–69. 6. Yamada, E. et al. in preparation. 7. Champy,
P. et al. (2005) Mov. Disord. 20:1629–1633. 8. Bajin, I. et al. in preparation. 9. Capparos-Lefèbvre, D. et al.
(2005) Environ. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 19:407–413. 10. Höglinger, G.U, et al. (2006)
Mov. Disord. 20:118–119.
