favism

Pronunciation: fā′vizm

Definition: An acute condition suffered after ingestion of certain species of beans, Vicia faba, or inhalation of the pollen of its flower; characterized by fever, headache, abdominal pain, severe anemia, prostration, and coma; it occurs in some people with genetic erythrocytic deficiency of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Chance exposure to the Vicia faba, by its impact on the phenotype of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, impinges on the expression or the gene, an example of incomplete penetrance.

Synonym(s): fabism

[Ital. favismo, from fava, bean]

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