CRUDE PREPARATIONS OF DIOON SPINULOSUM DYER NEUROTOXICITY - METHYLAZOXYMETHANOL PRODUCES PETIL MAL SEIZURES IN SUSCEPTIBLE INDIVIDUALS

Dioon spinulosum is a cycad prepared as an alternative food and consum ed by Chinantecos from Veracruz and Oaxaca, Mexico. Whether Dioon spin ulosum possesses neurotoxic properties is unknown, therefore, we used wistar rats receiving several regimens of D. spinulosum. Semi-liquid d iarrhea followed the ingestion of crude kernels of D. spinulosum (grou p-1). In group-2 we offered during 10 days, purine and water during 12 h/day, and kernel or sclerotesta during the remaining 12 h (8.00 p.m. to 8.00 a.m.). As a result, a significantly decreased ingestion of wa ter and cycad was compensated by a higher ingestion of purine and wate r during the period for which they had access to their normal diet. In group-3 which received lyophilized powdered crude kernel through a di splaceable oesophagic cannula during 80 days, the locomotor activity w as significantly lowered (p<0.05), but their fine motor ability for sw imming remained unaltered. In this group, the computerized analysis of the electroencephalogram illustrated a dominance of high-voltage, hig h-frequency waves as compared to a matched-age control group (p<0.05). In group-4, the active toxin of cycads, methylazoxymethanol-glucoside applied directly to the cerebral cortex (1 yl), produced an epileptic status (spike-wave activity: 3 - 6 Hz/200 mu V) lasting more than six hours in 30% of the animals. In conclusion, D. spinulosum produced a decrease in gross locomotor activity, and an increased excitability of the central nervous system.