Epidemic Dropsy – Pathology, Clinical Features, Prevention
- Epidemic dropsy is a condition caused by consumption of mustard oil contaminated with argemone oil
How mustard oil gets contaminated:
- Contamination may be accidental or deliberate
- Argemone mexicana (Mexican prickly poppy) has seeds which resemble mustard seeds
- They grow among the mustard crops as weed plants
- They mature and produce seeds about the same time as mustard
- During harvesting, the argemone seeds may get mixed with the mustard seeds
- Also, unscrupulous dealers may mix argemone oil with mustard oil
Pathology:
- Argemone oil contains a chemical – sanguinarine
- Sanguinarine interferes with oxidation of pyruvic acid, resulting in its accumulation in blood
Clinical features:
- Bilateral non inflammatory oedema of lower limbs
- Diarrhoea
- Dyspnoea
- Glaucoma
- Heart failure – may lead to death (5-50% mortality rate)
How to detect argemone oil?
- Nitric acid test
- Add nitric acid to a sample of oil to be tested
- If argemone oil is present, it develops a brown to orange-red colour
- This test can detect argemone oil at a concentration of 0.25%
- Paper chromatography test:
- Very sensitive – can detect argemone oil at a concentration of 0.0001%
Prevention of Epidemic Dropsy:
- Accidental contamination may be prevented by de-weeding of argemone plants
- Deliberate contamination should be dealt with using provisions of the ‘Prevention of Food Adulteration Act’
