Abstract
Background
Melia azedarach, also known as the chinaberry tree, is native to Southeast Asia and northern Australia
but has become an invasive species in the United States. M. azedarach contains limonoid tetranotriterpenes, found in highest concentrations in its berries.
Ingestion has been reported to result in adverse clinical effects affecting the gastrointestinal,
cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurologic systems.
Objective
The objective of this investigation was to describe M. azedarach ingestions in Texas.
Methods
Cases were M. azedarach ingestions reported to Texas poison centers from 2000–2018. The distribution of cases
was determined for various factors related to patient demographics, ingestion circumstances,
management, and outcome.
Results
Of 990 total M. azedarach ingestions, 87.4% involved the berry. There was a seasonal pattern with 42.9% reported
between March and May. The patients were male in 55.1% of cases; 86.6% of the patients
were ≤5 years of age. Patients were managed outside of a health care facility in 89.9%
of cases; 95.2% of the ingestions resulted in no or at most minor clinical effects.
The most frequently reported clinical effects were gastrointestinal (8.9%) and neurologic
(2.1%). The most common treatments were dilution (67.2%) and food/snack (16.8%).
Conclusion
In this study that focused on M. azedarach ingestions reported to Texas poison centers, the ingestions tended to involve berries.
Most of the patients were young children. The ingestions often occurred between March
and May. The ingestions typically were managed outside of a health care facility and
did not result in serious outcomes. The most common clinical effects were gastrointestinal
and neurologic.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 18, 2020
Accepted:
January 12,
2020
Received in revised form:
November 28,
2019
Received:
August 9,
2019
Footnotes
Reprints are not available from the authors.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
