Asiatic bitter yam intoxication

To the editor,

Asiatic bitter yam (Dioscorea hispida Dennst. var. hispida) is the name of a tropical alkaloid containing plant that can be used as food[1]. In Thailand, its name is “Kloy” and used as an important ingredient for desert preparation. Here, the author reports a case of asiatic bitter yam intoxication. The patient is a 37 years old Thai female patient presented to the physician with the complaint of itching sensation after intake of Asiatic bitter yam in a local desert namely “Khao Neaw Na Kloy” (a Thai desert, sweet sticky rice served with Asiatic bitter yam). The symptom developed within 15 min after ingestion. At the present visit, the vital sign of the patient is stable. The patient was treated by chlorpheniramine intravenous injection and the symptom of the patient disappeared within 2 h. In fact, the toxicity of yam bean is widely mentioned but not for the case of Asiatic bitter yam[2]. Focusing on the toxicity of the Asiatic bitter yam, the important problematic components are discorine, histamine and cyanogens[3]. However, the well cooking can remove the toxicity and the intoxication is usually due to the poor cooking[3],[4]. In Thailand, since the desert with yam component is widely intook, the case of intoxication is sporadically reported. Of interest, some fatal cases can be seen[4]. The concern on the intoxication of local food, which is made from plant, is important in tropical medicine since this problem is common but can be easily forgotten[5]–[10].