Parkinsonism Relating to Intoxication with Glyphosate

• Published in: Internal Medicine Vol. 58; no. 13; pp. 1935 - 1938
• Main Authors: Eriguchi, Makoto, Iida, Kotaro, Ikeda, Shuhei, Osoegawa, Manabu, Nishioka, Kenya, Hattori, Nobutaka, Nagayama, Hiroshi, Hara, Hideo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine 01.07.2019; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Adult; Basal ganglia; Case Report; Central nervous system diseases; Dyskinesia; Epidemiology; Exposure; Glycine - analogs & derivatives; Glycine - toxicity; Glyphosate; Health risks; Herbicides - toxicity; Humans; Ingestion; Internal medicine; Intoxication; Levodopa; Levodopa - therapeutic use; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Movement disorders; Muscle Rigidity - chemically induced; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neuroimaging; Parkinson Disease - complications; Parkinson Disease - drug therapy; Parkinson Disease - pathology; Parkinson's disease; pesticide; Rigidity; Risk factors; Scintigraphy; Treatment Outcome; Water pollution effects; pesticide; Parkinson's disease; glyphosate
• ISSN: 0918-2918; 1349-7235
• DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.2028-18

We herein report the case of a 38-year-old man who developed parkinsonism 4 years after ingesting glyphosate. The patient presented with right-sided bradykinesia and cogwheel rigidity without autonomic symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and [123I]-metaiodobenzylguanidine myocardial scintigraphy were normal. A drastic response to levodopa and the presence of levodopa-induced dyskinesia without strong non-motor symptoms were seen in this patient. We considered that young-onset atypical parkinsonism was associated with a history of sublethal glyphosate ingestion. Epidemiologic investigations have shown that exposure to pesticides is a risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD). Our findings support the notion that glyphosate exposure might be related to the onset of PD.