Citation

Azuma F, Nokura K, Kako T, Kobayashi D, Yoshimura T, Wada K. Intern. Med. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Japanese Society of Internal Medicine)

DOI

10.2169/internalmedicine.4196-19

PMID

32132337

Abstract

A 64-year-old woman developed symptoms of vomiting and tonic-clonic convulsions 9.5 h after eating 50 roasted Ginkgo biloba seeds with 100 g of alcohol. The intravenous administration of pyridoxal phosphate effectively improved the symptoms. Blood samples were collected and stored over 35 h. The assessment of 4'-O-methylpyridoxine and vitamin B6 vitamers indicated high levels of both, but the pyridoxal phosphate levels were low during the acute stage. These results suggest that 4'-O-methylpyridoxine inhibits the transformation of vitamin B6 analogues to the active form, pyridoxal phosphate. In our case, alcohol may have extended the period until ginkgo intoxication appeared.

Language: en

Keywords

4′-O-methylpyridoxine; Ginkgo biloba seeds poisoning; Ginkgotoxin; generalized convulsion; pyridoxal phosphate; treatment