L’usage de variétés de féveroles (Vicia faba L.) à faibles teneurs en vicine et convicine, réduit le risque du favisme chez l’homme hemizygote porteur d’une mutation de forte déficience en glucose-6-phosphate déshydrogénase (G6PD)

Low vicine and convicine content in faba bean seeds is under oligogenic control and can be easily monitored by breeding. Aim of the study was to show that new faba beans (FB) genotypes with low content of vicine and convicine (low V/C FB) produced by selection, are non-toxic and non-hemolytic even when ingested in large amounts by highly susceptible glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD)-deficient individuals. Evidence indicates that V/C, amino-pyrimidine derivatives present in high amounts in normal FB, are the causative agents of favism, ie severe oxidative damage and hemolysis occurring in G6PD-deficient subjects after FB ingestion. In vitro, micromolar V/C elicits oxidative damage in …