ArticleJournal of the neurological sciences2015
Lower serum levels of selenium, copper, and zinc are related to neuromotor impairments in children with konzo.
Article in Journal of the neurological sciences, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between Cu/Zn/Iron/Ca/Mg levels and cerebral palsy: a pooled-analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- Selenium-associated DNA methylation modifications in placenta and neurobehavioral development of newborns: An epigenome-wide study of two U.S. birth cohorts.Environment international · 2020Pooled it
- Associations Between Serum Selenium, Zinc, and Copper Levels and Cognitive Function in the Elderly.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Glutathione peroxidase 3 is a potential biomarker for konzo.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Linkages between soil, crop, livestock, and human selenium status in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.International journal of food science & technology · 2022Article
- Biochemical and Hematological Markers in Workers with Chronical Exposure to Lead and Cadmium in Colombia.Toxics · 2022Article
- Article
- Evaluation of Essential and Toxic Elements in the Blood of 0-14-Year-Old Children in Hunan, China From 2013 to 2019: A Retrospective Analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Article
- The Involvement of Selenium in Type 2 Diabetes Development Related to Obesity and Low Grade Inflammation.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2021Article
- Drp-1-Dependent Mitochondrial Fragmentation Contributes to Cobalt Chloride-Induced Toxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2020Article
- An Integrated Infant and Young Child Feeding and Small-Quantity Lipid-based Nutrient Supplementation Program Is Associated with Improved Gross Motor and Communication Scores of Children 6-18 Months in the Democratic Republic of Congo.The Journal of pediatrics · 2020Article
- Article
- Changing levels of selenium and zinc in cadmium-exposed workers: probable association with the intensity of inflammation.Molecular biology reports · 2019Article
- Environmental Health Research in Africa: Important Progress and Promising Opportunities.Frontiers in genetics · 2019Review
- [Socioemotional disorders in children living in Konzo-affected areas, an epidemic paralytic disease associated with cyanide poisoning from food in sub-Saharan Africa].The Pan African medical journal · 2018Article
- Association between stunting and neuro-psychological outcomes among children in Burkina Faso, West Africa.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2018Article
- [Formula: see text]Selecting measures for the neurodevelopmental assessment of children in low- and middle-income countries.Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence · 2017Article
- Cognitive and motor performance in Congolese children with konzo during 4 years of follow-up: a longitudinal analysis.The Lancet. Global health · 2017Article
- Antioxidant potentiality of three herbal teas consumed in Bandundu rural areas of Congo.Natural product research · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
We assessed the relationship between key trace elements and neurocognitive and motor impairments observed in konzo, a motor neuron disease associated with cassava cyanogenic exposure in nutritionally challenged African children. Serum concentrations of iron, copper, zinc, selenium, and neurotoxic lead, mercury, manganese, cadmium, and cobalt were measured in 123 konzo children (mean age 8.53 years) and 87 non-konzo children (mean age 9.07 years) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). Concentrations of trace elements were compared and related to performance scores on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, 2nd edition (KABC-II) for cognition and Bruininks-Oseretsky Test, 2nd edition (BOT-2) for motor proficiency. Children with konzo had low levels of selenium, copper, and zinc relative to controls. Selenium concentration significantly correlated with serum 8,12-iso-iPF2α-VI isoprostane (Spearman r=0.75, p<0.01) and BOT-2 scores (r=0.31, p=0.00) in children with konzo. Elemental deficiency was not associated with poor cognition. Mean (SD) urinary level of thiocyanate was 388.03 (221.75) μmol/l in non-konzo compared to 518.59 (354.19) μmol/l in konzo children (p<0.01). Motor deficits associated with konzo may possibly be driven by the combined effects of cyanide toxicity and Se deficiency on prooxidant mechanisms. Strategies to prevent konzo may include dietary supplementation with trace elements, preferentially, those with antioxidant and cyanide-scavenging properties.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.