Poisoning by Cnestis ferruginea in Casamance (Senegal): An etiological approach

Since several years, in the area of Kabrousse in Casamance (Senegal), a neurotoxic syndrome has caused more than 50 human deaths. Field studies showed that epidemic could be due to consumption of leave decoction of Cnestis ferruginea, a tropical plant belonging to the Connaraceae family. An ethnobotanical study has been conducted in order to investigate the traditional uses of C. ferruginea, and describe the circumstances and the symptoms of this plant poisoning. As a first experimental approach, the leave decoction was tested for its ability to induce cytotoxic effects using the XTT method. A phytochemical approach revealed the presence of methionine sulfoximine (MSX), a neurotoxic amino acid, in the plant extract by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The description of this poisoning, the cytotoxic activity of the decoction and the occurence of MSX in leaves of C. ferruginea constituted the first etiological data on this poisoning.