Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0085584 (encephalopathy)
 18,178 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Hexachlorophene (HCP), a chlorinated phenolic hydrocarbon with bacteriostatic properties against Staphylococcus, is used in a number of topical products. Absorption through normal and damaged human skin has been appreciated and neurologic changes have been described in experimental animals, but instances of human toxicity have been reported infrequently. A 10-year-old boy who sustained a 25% burn did well initially but died in the second week of convalescence with hyperthermia, lower-extremity weakness, and cerebral edema. His treatment had included frequent applications of HCP. Analysis of post-mortem tissue revealed the presence of toxic levels of HCP in the blood (2.2 mug/gm) and brain (2.2 mug/gm), with storage in skin (25 mug/gm), liver (4.4 mug/gm), and fat (6.0 mug/gm). This case suggests that topical applications of HCP in man may result in an extensive absorption with fat storage and may cause fatal encephalopathy.
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PMID:Hexachlorophene storage in a burn patient associated with encephalopathy. 84 May 66

To assess neurotoxic effects of hexachlorophene in the human population previously shown to be most at risk, a blind clinicopathological analysis was made of all premature infants under 1,400 gm birth weight who survived at least four days and were examined by autopsy over a 7.5-year period. Repeated whole-body bathing of premature newborn infants in 3% hexachlorophene-bearing soap (undiluted pHisoHex) shows a significant statistical association with a vacuolar encephalopathy of the brain stem reticular formation. The prevalence of the vacuolar encephalopathy in premature infants on whom we have adequate brain stem histological information appears to be related to the number of exposures to hexachlorophene, the concentration of hexachlorophene, the thoroughness of rinsing, and other factors (including exposure to ultraviolet light).
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PMID:Neurotoxicity of hexachlorophene in humans. II. A clinicopathological study of 46 premature infants. 113 6

A study on hexachlorophene encephalopathy in mice and baboons is reported. By light microscopy, a severe spongiform lesion of the central nervous system (CNS) was localized in the white matter, without myelin breakdown or cellular reaction. By electron microscopy, the myelin alteration was characterized by wide intralamellar spaces or "splitting" developed in the intraperiod line of compact sheaths. The acute changes described were induced by administration of the drug by the digestive or cutaneous routes at various dosage levels in an aqueous solution or in talcum powder. The toxic effects depended on the age of the animals, the survival times and the concentrations of hexachlorophene, i.e., 6%, 3%, and 0.5%. The findings are compared with previous reports on the neurotoxicity of hexachlorophene and other chemicals in human and experimental animals. Hexachlorophene cannot be recommended for use in young infants because of its neurotoxicity in very low doses as demonstrated in the present report.
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PMID:Hexachlorophene and the central nervous system. Toxic effects in mice and baboons. 721 Nov 99