Transient glyphosate encephalopathy due to a suicide attempt

Saaya Yokoyama; Tomomi Sugisaki; Yoshida Ryota; Sato Yoshiteru; Hiroaki Okayasu; Mukuto Shioda; Keisuke Suzuki; Norio Yasui-Furukori; Kazutaka Shimoda

doi:10.1002/npr2.12201

Transient glyphosate encephalopathy due to a suicide attempt

Neuropsychopharmacol Rep. 2021 Sep;41(3):444-447. doi: 10.1002/npr2.12201. Epub 2021 Aug 6.

Authors

Saaya Yokoyama¹, Tomomi Sugisaki^{1

2}, Yoshida Ryota¹, Sato Yoshiteru¹, Hiroaki Okayasu¹, Mukuto Shioda³, Keisuke Suzuki³, Norio Yasui-Furukori¹, Kazutaka Shimoda¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Dokkyo Medical University, School of Medicine, Shimotsuga, Japan.
² Department of Clinical Training Center, Dokkyo Medical University, School of Medicine, Shimotsuga, Japan.
³ Department of Neurology, Dokkyo Medical University, School of Medicine, Shimotsuga, Japan.

Abstract

Aim: Glyphosate-containing herbicides are less toxic than paraquat and are one of the most widely used herbicides today.

Case presentation: We report a case of ingestion of a pesticide containing glyphosate in a suicide attempt. The patient was admitted to the psychiatric department because of persistent suicidal thoughts. He suffered from short-term memory impairment on day 3. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed swelling in the bilateral medial temporal lobes and hippocampi and high signal on T2-weighted images. Gradually, the patient's cognitive impairments improved, and he was discharged on day 33.

Conclusion: A physician should examine the patient with the possibility of glyphosate encephalopathy in mind.

Keywords: MRI; encephalopathy; glyphosate; suicide attempt.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Brain Diseases*
Glycine / analogs & derivatives*
Glycine / toxicity
Glyphosate
Herbicides* / toxicity
Humans
Male
Suicide, Attempted*

Substances

Herbicides
Glycine