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Polyneuritis Incidence in Shoe Factory Workers: Cases Report and Etiological Considerations

1978; Heldref Publications; Volume: 33; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00039896.1978.10667333

2331-4303

Alessandro Cavalleri, Vittorio Cosi,

Cholinesterase and Neurodegenerative Diseases

This study describes an outbreak of polyneuropathies in an artificial leather shoe factory. Thirty-seven females employed in the factory were examined; clinical findings and hematochemical data suggest a possible role of tricresylphosphate (TCP) in the genesis of these polyneuropathies. A high percentage of subjects evidenced definite signs of upper-motor neuron involvement, which appeared at an early or late stage of the disease. A statistically significant (P less than .001) reduction of red-blood-cell acetylcholinesterase (AChE) was found in the subjects. The ascertained upper-motor neuron involvement suggests a connection with previously described intoxications by TCP- by ingestion or occupational poisoning. The reduction of AChE seems attributable to TCP, and not to n-hexane, whose anti-AChE activity has never been demonstrated.