Effects of cassava diet on Cercopithecus aethiops livers: a case for cassava as the cause of both tropical splenomegaly syndrome (TSS) and endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF).

The aetiology of endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF) and tropical splenomegaly syndrome (TSS) though speculative, was considered by the author to be the same or related since the two diseases may occur in the same individual and locality. Accordingly, when attempting to prove a hypothesis for the causation of EMF that prolonged ingestion of tuber (cassava/tapioca) associated with extreme deprivation of protein causes EMF; one group of three Cercopithecus aethiops was fed on uncooked cassava while a second group was fed with uncooked bananas and in addition to harvesting the hearts whenever the animal health deteriorated, livers were also harvested for histological changes. While hearts from the animals on cassava revealed changes seen in human EMF the livers from the same animals exhibited Kupffer cell hyperplasia and hypertrophy as well as sinusoidal lymphocytosis, features seen in human TSS thereby confirming that the aetiology of these two diseases is the same. However, the banana diet did not produce such changes.