Article

Acute Toxicity of High Doses of the Glycoalkaloids, α-Solanine and α-Chaconine, in the Syrian Golden Hamster

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Abstract

Sprouted, stressed, or spoiled potato tubers have reportedly led to human acute intoxication, coma, and death when consumed in high amounts. These effects have been attributed to glycoalkaloids (GAs), primarily alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine, naturally present in all potatoes. The level of GAs in potato tubers has previously been shown to increase substantially as a result of improper handling and postharvest storage. A short-term study was performed to investigate the dose-response profile of alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine alone or in combination, administered daily by oral gavage to Syrian Golden hamsters. Daily doses of 100 mg of alpha-solanine [kg body weight (BW)] (-1) induced death in two of four hamsters within 4 days, when administered by gavage to female Syrian hamsters. Doses of 100 mg of alpha-chaconine alone or alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine combined in a ratio of 1:2.5, in doses of 75 or 100 mg (kg BW) (-1), induced death in one of four hamsters within the same period. Animals dosed with alpha-solanine alone or in combination with alpha-chaconine suffered from fluid-filled and dilated small intestines. The GA administration had no effect on acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) or butyryl cholinesterase (BuChE) activity in plasma or brain. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics showed that there was a specific accumulation of alpha-chaconine in the liver tissues. In addition, metabolomics gave direct evidence of glycolytic metabolism of the GA with the beta 1, beta 2, and gamma-GAs detected in the urine and, to a lesser extent, the feces. Doses from 75 mg (kg BW) (-1) of alpha-chaconine, alpha-solanine, or the two compounds combined were potentially lethal within 4-5 days in the Syrian Golden hamster. However, the cause of death in these studies could not be established. No synergistic effects of alpha-solanine combined with alpha-chaconine were evident.

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... At these lethal doses, the symptoms of intoxication include trembling, tonic-clonic convulsions and death by breathing arrest (Pothier et al., 1998;Yovo et al., 1984). Developmental toxicity, Genotoxicity Kraicer and Strauss (1970); Carpent and Desclin (1969); Witters et al. (1975); Grauwiler and Schon (1973); Sommer and Buchanan (1955);Schaar and Clemens (1972); Roberts and Rand (1977a); Roberts and Rand (1977b); Roberts and Rand (1978); Matter (1976), Matter (1982); Dighe and Vaidya (1988) Glycoalkaloids Irritation, congestion in the epididymis and testes, gut bleeding, gastric glandular mucosal necrosis, intestinal mucosal necrosis, gastric distension lesions, severe renal and hepatic congestion, leukocytic infiltration, increased haemoglobin and haemocrit, decreased liver weight, increased white and red blood cells, developmental toxicity, genotoxicity Al Chami et al. (2003); Phillips et al. (1996); Baker et al. (1989); Sharma et al. (1979); Phillips et al. (1996); Langkilde et al. (2008); Langkilde et al. (2009);Langkilde et al. (2012); Dixit and Gupta (1982); Gupta and Dixit 2002;Dixit et al. (1989); Gaffield and Keeler (1993), Gaffield and Keeler (1996); Renwick et al. (1984); Munari et al. (2012); Freidman and Henika (1992); Almeida et al. (2010). ...
... A 4-week study on the subacute toxicity of ergometrine maleate in rats showed decreased glucose and thyroxin levels and increased organ weights when administered at high doses and an increase in the incidence of enlarged mediastinal and parathymal lymph nodes in male rats, which was proportional to the administered dose (Peters-Volleberg et al., 1996). Langkilde et al. (2008;Langkilde et al. 2009;Langkilde et al. 2012) reported a series of experiments using α-solanine mixed with α-chaconine in female hamsters. Decreases in food consumed and relative weight of the liver and increases in haemoglobin and hematocrit all occurred within a 5-day period following the first day of the gavage administration of 75 mg TGA/kg bw per day of a mixture of the two glycoalkaloids in a 1:2.5 ratio (Langkilde et al., 2008). ...
... Langkilde et al. (2008;Langkilde et al. 2009;Langkilde et al. 2012) reported a series of experiments using α-solanine mixed with α-chaconine in female hamsters. Decreases in food consumed and relative weight of the liver and increases in haemoglobin and hematocrit all occurred within a 5-day period following the first day of the gavage administration of 75 mg TGA/kg bw per day of a mixture of the two glycoalkaloids in a 1:2.5 ratio (Langkilde et al., 2008). As with the previous dose, lethality was also observed following the gavage administration of 100 mg TGA/kg bw per day in a quarter of the tested animals due to increased adrenals, red blood cells and serum creatinine and decreased body weight (Langkilde et al., 2008). ...
Article
Alkaloids have been utilized by humans for years. They have diverse applications in pharmaceuticals. They have been proven to be effective in treating a number of diseases. They also form an important part of regular human diets, as they are present in food items, food supplements, diet ingredients and food contaminants. Despite their obvious importance, these alkaloids are toxic to humans. Their toxicity is dependent on a range of factors, such as specific dosage, exposure time and individual properties. Mild toxic effects include nausea, itching and vomiting while chronic effects include paralysis, teratogenicity and death. This review summarizes the published studies on the toxicity, analytical methods, occurrence and risk assessments of six major alkaloid groups that are present in food, namely, ergot, glycoalkaloids, purine, pyrrolizidine, quinolizidine and tropane alkaloids.
... The lowered body weight gain might have been caused by a decreased food intake by the animals. Serum glucose, serum creatine, red blood cell (RBC), haemoglobin and haematocrit were elevated (Langkilde et al., 2008). ...
... In hamsters, 100 mg/kg bw per day (the only dose administered) for 5 days induced lethality (in 25% of the animals) and reduced body weight gain and relative liver weights despite an unaltered food intake (Langkilde et al., 2008). Serum glucose, serum creatine, RBC, haemoglobin and haematocrit were elevated. ...
... In a series of experiments, Langkilde et al. (2008Langkilde et al. ( , 2009Langkilde et al. ( , 2012 tested defined mixtures of asolanine and a-chaconine in female hamsters. At a ratio a-solanine:a-chaconine of 1:2.5, gavage of 75 mg TGA/kg bw per day induced lethality (in 25% of the animals), lowered food intake, decreased the relative liver weight and increased haemoglobin and haematocrit within 5 days of treatment (Langkilde et al., 2008). ...
Article
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The European Commission asked EFSA for a scientic opinion on the risks for animal and human health related to the presence of glycoalkaloids (GAs) in feed and food. This risk assessment covers edible parts of potato plants and other food plants containing GAs, in particular, tomato and aubergine. In humans, acute toxic effects of pot ato GAs (a-solanine and a-chaconine) include gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. For these effects, the CONTAM Panel identifed a lowest-observed-adverse-effect level of 1 mg total potato GAs/kg body weight (bw)per day as a reference point for the risk characterisation following acute exposure. In humans, no evidence of health problems associated with repeated or lon g-term intake of GAs via potatoes has been identified. No reference point for chronic exposure could be identified from the experimentalanimal studies. Occurrence data were available only for a-solanine and a-chaconine, mostly for potatoes. The acute dietary exposure to potato GAs was estimated using a probabilistic approach and applying processing factors for food. Due to the limited data available, a margin of exposure (MOE) approach was applied. The MOEs for the younger age groups indicate a health concern for the food consumption surveys with the highest mean exposure, as well as for the P95 exposure in all surveys. For adult age groups, the MOEs indicate a health concern only for the food consumption surveys with the highest P95 exposures. For tomato and aubergine GAs, the risk to human health could not be characterised due to the lack of occurrence data and the limited toxicity data. For horses, farm and companion animals, no risk characterisation for potato GAs could be performed due to insufficient dataon occurrence in feed and on potential adverse effects of GAs in these species.
... The potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.) is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals, and has become an indispensable food source in the human diet. However, adverse storage conditions can impact the levels of glycoalkaloids (GAs) in potatoes [1]. GAs are natural toxins produced by potatoes and all nightshade (Solanum nigrum Linn) plants of the solanaceae family to protect against hostile environmental effects, such as attacks from bacteria, fungi, insects, animals, etc. ...
... The most common symptoms of potato GA poisoning are flu-like symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, fever, stomach pain, abdominal pain, diarrhea, etc. [9,10], and severe cases of GAs toxicity may show deleterious effects on the digestive and central nervous systems [2]. Animal studies have shown that ␣-solanine may cause lethality in the Syrian golden hamster [1], depolarize membranes in frog [11], damage to embryos and fetuses of rat [12] and hamster [13], and decreased body and liver weights [14] or induce abortion [15] in mice. The main adverse impacts observed from these studies are cell membrane disruption and acetylcholinesterase inhibition [1,8,16]. ...
... Animal studies have shown that ␣-solanine may cause lethality in the Syrian golden hamster [1], depolarize membranes in frog [11], damage to embryos and fetuses of rat [12] and hamster [13], and decreased body and liver weights [14] or induce abortion [15] in mice. The main adverse impacts observed from these studies are cell membrane disruption and acetylcholinesterase inhibition [1,8,16]. ...
Article
In this study, we used a pig model to investigate the effects of α-solanine (a natural toxin found mainly in potato sprouts) on oocyte maturation, quality and subsequent embryonic development. We found that α-solanine (10 μM) disturbed meiotic resumption and increased abnormal spindle formation and altered the cortical granule (CG) distribution compared with the untreated group. α-Solanine triggered autophagy and apoptosis by increasing the expressions of autophagy-related genes (LC3, ATG7, and LAMP2) and apoptotic related genes (BAX and CASP3). Exposure of porcine oocytes to α-solanine significantly increased the levels of H3K36me3 and H3K27me3. Moreover, α-solanine significantly reduced the cleavage and blastocyst formation rates, decreased the total and inner cell mass cells numbers, and increased apoptosis in these porcine embryos. Taken together, our data indicate that α-solanine toxically impairs oocyte maturation and quality by triggering autophagy/apoptosis and facilitating epigenetic modifications. Furthermore, α-solanine suppressed subsequent embryonic development and reduced embryo quality.
... Hamsters were randomly sorted into nine experimental groups, ten animals per group. Female hamsters were chosen as these have been used in previous studies investigating the toxicity of GA's (Langkilde et al., 2008(Langkilde et al., , 2009. ...
... In that study, the equivalent dose of total GA in the ratio 1:3.7 had no influence on the brain AChE activity. An acute study on the effects of GA (75 and 100 mg/kg body weight) in Syrian Golden hamsters did not exhibit any significant effects on AChE or BuChE (Langkilde et al., 2008). The intake of FDPP in the present study led to doses of total GA from 7-33 mg/kg body weight/day, based on a feed intake of 10 g/animal/day and an average body weight of 100 g. ...
... Previous studies have reported cell lysing properties of GAs, e.g. severe gastric and intestinal mucosal necrosis in hamsters receiving up to 33 mg alkaloid extracts/kg body weight/day (Baker et al., 1987), as well as distended, gas and fluid filled intestines and stomach (Langkilde et al., 2008(Langkilde et al., , 2009. However, in the present study no effects were observed on any organs in hamsters, either macroscopically or histologically, after feeding diets with either Desirée wild-type or GM SGT 9-2 FDPP. ...
Article
Steroidal glycoalkaloids (GAs) are toxins, produced by plants of the Solanaceae family. The potato plant (Solanum tuberosum L.) and its tubers predominantly contain the two GAs α-chaconine and α-solanine. These compounds are believed to act in synergy, and the degree of toxicity may therefore depend on their ratio in the potato. To determine the influence of α-solanine: α-chaconine ratio in potatoes on toxicity, a GM potato line (SGT 9-2) with reduced α-solanine content, and the parental control line (Desirée wild-type) having a traditional α-solanine: α-chaconine ratio were (1) studied for compositional similarity by analysing for a range of potato constituents, and (2) used in a 90-day feeding trial with the Syrian Golden hamster to study differential toxicity. The animal feeding study used diets with up to 60% freeze-dried potato powder from either line. Whilst data indicated some compositional differences between the GM line and its wildtype control these did not raise concerns related to nutritional value or safety. Results of the feeding trials showed a low number of significant differences between potato lines with different α-solanine: α-chaconine ratio but none were considered to raise safety concerns with regard to human (or animal) consumption.
... However, there is extremely limited data on ruminants in this context, in only experiment conducted on potato glycoalkaloids toxicity in small ruminants, Konig (1953) reported a toxic and lethal dose of 225 and 500 mg/kg BW, respectively, for sheep when administrated by oral way. The majority of data available in the literature about potato glycoalkaloids toxicity are on rats, mice, rabbits and hamsters (Friedman, 2006;Robert et al., 2006;Langkilde et al., 2008). These data indicate that adverse effect of potato glycoalkaloids are due to their anti-cholinesterase activity in central nervous system, cell membrane disruption, induction liver enzymes, teratogenicity and emberyotoxicity (Roddick, 1989;Caldwell et al., 1991;Toyoda et al., 1991). ...
... In this context, Satoh (1967) revealed a hyperglycemic effect from ␣solanine in intact rats, which was shifted to a hypoglycemic effect in adrenalectomized rats, indicating an indirect impact of ␣-solanine on blood glucose mediated by adrenals. There are indications that potato glycoalkaloids can accumulate in different tissues, including abdominal fat, adrenals, blood, heart, kidney, liver, muscle and some other tissues (Tice, 1998;Langkilde et al., 2008). Therefore, by accumulation in tissues in long term, glycoalkaloids likely reach to their threshold concentration inducing the secretion of stress hormones. ...
Article
The current study aimed to investigate the effects of replacing alfalfa hay with potato vines hay (PVH) and potato vines silage (PVS) on growth performance, digestibility and blood metabolites of fattening lambs. For this, twenty-four fattening lambs were assigned randomly to one of four dietary treatments. Treatments included: 1) basal diet without potato vines (CTRL); 2, 3) replacing 50 and 100% of alfalfa in the basal diet with PVH (PVH50, PVH100, respectively); and 4) replacing 50% of alfalfa with PVS (PVS50). The diets were formulated to be iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous and were fed ad-libitum to lambs during 70 days of performance period. Blood samples, taken on d 30 and 70, were analyzed for biochemical and hematological parameters. At the end of performance period, lambs were transferred into metabolic crates and the digestibility of the diets were evaluated during 7 d fecal collection, following a 14-d adaptation period. Metabolizable energy (ME) and organic matter digestibility (OMD) of PVH and PVS as well as ruminal digestibility and fermentation of the diets were determined in vitro using gas production technique. Organic matter (%), CP (%), NDF (%), OMD (%) and ME (MJ/kg) contents were 79.2, 14.7, 45.1, 72.3; 89.9, 16.1, 43, 7.74, 58.8; and 90.4, 14.5, 48, 9.5, 67.2 for PVH, PVS and alfalfa, respectively. Replacing alfalfa with PVH and PVS had no effect on the growth performance of lambs (P > 0.05). However, total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) concentration was affected by the treatments (P < 0.01), with the lowest value observed with PVH100. There was no significant treatment effect on nutrients digestibility except for CP, which tended to increase with PVH100. In vitro results showed no treatment effect on ruminal digestibility (P > 0.05). Partitioning factor (PF) tended to increase with PVH and PVS containing diets (P = 0.09). However, there was a treatment effect on the gas produced after 24 h incubation (GP24) and TVFA (P < 0.05), with their lowest values observed in PVH100 and PVS50, respectively. Treatments affected serum glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, and albumin (P < 0.01). Overall concentrations of cholesterol and triglyceride decreased in lambs fed diets containing PVH and PVS, but glucose and albumin decreased only in lambs receiving PVH50 and PVH100. There was also a treatment by day interaction effect on serum glucose, urea, triglyceride and albumin concentrations (P < 0.01). Hepatic enzymes and hematological parameters were not affected by the treatments (P > 0.05). Overall, these results indicated that processed potato vines can be used in feeding fattening lambs without having adverse effect on their health and performance.
... Regarding human toxicity, sporadic outbreaks of poisoning may occur due to elevated levels of glycoalkaloids, as indicated by research studies, as they are largely resistant to home processing conditions such as baking, boiling, frying, and microwaving [21]. In humans, acute toxicity of potato glycoalkaloids causes gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. ...
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This research investigates repurposing potato glycoalkaloids as lifesaving anticancer drugs. There is integration of network pharmacology with multiomics. Solanine, chaconine, and their hydrolysis products’ pharmacokinetics were tested using SwissADME. Solanine and chaconine targets were identified via reverse pharmacophore mapping. Through database mining, 26 solanine and chaconine targets were found in cancer genes. To understand gene function, KEGG and GO analyses were done. STRING was used to create a protein-protein interaction network to find similarities between chemicals and cancer. To find prognostic genes in various cancers, CytoHubba in Cytoscape identified hub genes and GEPIA2 did survival analysis. ADME testing for solanine and chaconine medication candidates failed. Their glycosylation boosted solubility and P-glycoprotein inhibition. Cancer targets shared by both drugs were elevated in cancer-related pathways such as Pi3k-Akt1 and HIF-1. Cell death control and programmed cell death genes were enriched in gene ontology study. We built a protein-protein interaction network with 26 nodes and 38 edges. The hub genes were STAT3, TLR4, FGF2, IL2, NFKB1, AR, CHUK, TRIM24, NOS3, and KDM1A. Survival research showed that these genes predict cancer prognosis. We found that solanine and chaconine may interact with cancer-related genes to fight cancer. Discovery of hub genes with prognostic significance sheds light on glycoalkaloids’ anticancer processes.
... Potato is a staple food in China and Western countries. 35,36 Increasing evidence suggests that potatoes possess healthenhancing properties, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer activities. 37,38 Emerging evidence has revealed that consuming one to two teaspoons of potato juice before each meal can help alleviate arthritis symptoms. ...
Article
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Solanine has been shown to exhibit anti‐inflammatory and anti‐tumour properties; however, its efficacy in treating osteoarthritis (OA) remains ambiguous. The study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effects of α‐solanine on OA development in a mouse OA model. The OA mice were subjected to varying concentrations of α‐solanine, and various assessments were implemented to assess OA progression. We found that α‐solanine significantly reduced osteophyte formation, subchondral sclerosis and OARSI score. And it decreased proteoglycan loss and calcification in articular cartilage. Specifically, α‐solanine inhibited extracellular matrix degradation by downregulating collagen 10, matrix metalloproteinase 3 and 13, and upregulating collagen 2. Importantly, α‐solanine reversed chondrocyte pyroptosis phenotype in articular cartilage of OA mice by inhibiting the elevated expressions of Caspase‐1, Gsdmd and IL‐1β, while also mitigating aberrant angiogenesis and sensory innervation in subchondral bone. Mechanistically, α‐solanine notably hindered the early stages of OA progression by reducing I‐κB phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of p65, thereby inactivating NF‐κB signalling. Our findings demonstrate the capability of α‐solanine to disrupt chondrocyte pyroptosis and sensory innervation, thereby improving osteoarthritic pathological progress by inhibiting NF‐κB signalling. These results suggest that α‐solanine could serve as a promising therapeutic agent for OA treatment.
... The results of GAs cytotoxicity were presented in Figure 1, including cytotoxicity to gastric cancer AGS ( Figure 1a (Figure 1e,f). The obtained results are consistent with the literature data, which also indicates higher toxicity of chaconine than solanine [41,42]. Based on the obtained data, the values of the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of GAs were calculated and presented in Table 1. ...
Article
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More and more literature data indicate the health-promoting effect of potato juice (PJ). However, to date, it has not been precisely explained which of the many compounds present in PJ exhibit biological activity. The work aimed to establish the antiproliferative effect of gastrointestinal digested PJ and the products of its processing. Fresh PJs derived from three edible potato varieties, industrial side stream resulting from starch production, partially deproteinized PJ derived from feed protein production line, and three different potato protein preparations subjected to digestion in the artificial gastrointestinal tract were used in this study. The cytotoxic potential of glycoalkaloids (GAs), phenolic acids, digested PJ, and products of PJ processing was determined in human normal and cancer cells derived from the digestive system. The results showed that GAs exhibit concentration-dependent cytotoxicity against all analyzed cell lines. In contrast, phenolic acids (caffeic, ferulic, and chlorogenic acid) do not show cytotoxicity in the applied cell lines. A correlation between cytotoxic potency and GAs content was found in all PJ products studied. The most potent effects were observed under treatment with deproteinized PJ, a product of industrial processing of PJ, distinguished by the highest effective activity among the fresh juice products studied. Moreover, this preparation revealed a favorable cytotoxicity ratio towards cancer cells compared to normal cells. Statistical analysis of the obtained results showed the synergistic effect of other bioactive substances contained in PJ and its products, which may be crucial in further research on the possibility of using PJ as a source of compounds of therapeutic importance.
... containing as little as 0.2 mg/g of solanine leading to asphyxiation and even death [2], [3], with resulting net industrial losses and increased food waste. ...
Article
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Detecting and eliminating sprouted potatoes is a basic measure before potato storage, which can effectively improve the quality of potatoes before storage and reduce economic losses due to potato spoilage and decay. In this paper, we propose an improved YOLOv5-based sprouted potato detection model for detecting and grading sprouted potatoes in complex scenarios. By replacing Conv with CrossConv in the C3 module, the feature similarity loss problem of the fusion process is improved, and the feature representation is enhanced. SPP is improved using fast spatial pyramid pooling to reduce feature fusion parameters and speed up feature fusion. The 9-Mosaic data augmentation algorithm improves the model generalization ability; the anchor points are reconstructed using the genetic algorithm kk -means to enhance small target features, and then multi-scale training and hyperparameter evolution mechanisms are used to improve the accuracy. The experimental results show that the improved model has 90.14% recognition accuracy and 88.1% mAP, and the mAP is 4.6%, 7.5%, and 12.4% higher compared with SSD, YOLOv5, and YOLOv4, respectively. In summary, the improved YOLOv5 model, with good detection accuracy and effectiveness, can meet the requirements of rapid grading in automatic potato sorting lines.
... A small amount of α-solanine can cause common symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Excessive consumption of α-solanine can lead to convulsions, coma, and even death [14]. ...
Article
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The trophoblast, an embryonic tissue, exerts a crucial role in the processes of implantation and placentation. Toxins in food can cause malfunction of trophoblasts, resulting in apoptosis, oxidative stress, and abnormal angiogenesis. α-solanine, a steroidal glycoalkaloid, has antitumor properties on several cancer cells. However, its effect on human trophoblasts has not been elucidated. In this study, human extravillous trophoblast HTR-8/SVneo cells were exposed to α-solanine. Cellular functions including proliferation, migration, invasion, tube formation, and apoptosis were assessed. To monitor autophagic flux, trophoblasts were transfected with a mCherry-GFP-LC3B vector using lentiviral transduction, and expression of autophagy-related biomarkers including Beclin 1, Atgl3, and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain-3 (MAP1-LC3) were detected. The results show that application of 20 μM α-solanine or above inhibited the cell viability, migration, invasion, and tube formation of the human trophoblast. Cell cycle was arrested at S and G2/M phases in response to 30 μM α-solanine. α-solanine induced apoptosis of HTR-8/SVneo cells and triggered autophagy by increasing the autophagic gene expression and stimulating the formation of autophagosome and autophagic flux. In conclusion, α-solanine can impair the functions of human trophoblast cells via activation of cell apoptosis and autophagy.
... Nevertheless, cases of toxicity have been reported in tuberous Solanum spp. such as Solanum tuberosum (potato) due to the high presence of the glycoalkaloids, alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine (Schippers, 2001;Langkilde et al., 2008). ...
... Although the mechanism of glycoalkaloids is more complex than it seems to be (Mandimika et al., 2007), and are less toxic to animals than humans, they have been reported to affect the nervous system by inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase (ACHE, a neurotransmitter) and disrupting the cell membrane of the gastrointestinal system, thereby affecting the digestive system and other organs (Friedman et al., 1997b;Wang et al., 2005;Langkilde et al., 2008). ...
Article
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Potato tuber (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the fourth most important agricultural product after wheat, rice and maize. With a total production of 388 million in 2017, c.a. 70% of this total production is processed in developed countries, producing a large amount of potato peel waste (PPW) as by‐product. Although PPW is considered as a zero‐value by‐product by the feed industry because it is too fibrous, for other recycling industries it is an inexpensive by‐product due to its significant contents of some interesting nutrients particularly polyphenols and glycoalkaloids. In potato, and Solanum species in general, many glycoalkaloids, predominantly α‐chaconine and α‐solanine, have been chemically and structurally identified. However, further research is needed to expand the knowledge of the biological values of potato glycoalkaloids in order to develop a recycling process to extract these technologically and nutritionally interesting bioactive ingredients for different sectors, in particular, the agricultural, food and pharmaceutical ones, which are demanding natural, safe and eco‐friendly ingredients.
... The degradation levels appear to be correlated with the fermentation quality. Due to the fungal toxic properties of potato glycoalkaloids [60], it is necessary that LAB growth is improved in order to create an acidic environment. It can be concluded that glycoalkaloid degradation is associated with the transformation process of microbial degradation during acid-catalyzed hydrolysis [61]. ...
... The Solanum contains steroidal alkaloids that showed biological effects like antifungal, and antiviral ones, but the most important feature is that it also shows considerable anticancer effects. For example, solamargine causes the human hepatoma cells death (Hep3B) (Langkilde et al., 2008). In another study, the antimicrobial activity of steroidal saponins of S. xanthocarpum showed high antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and strong antifungal activity as well (Kajaria et al., 2012). ...
Thesis
This study aimed at the evaluation of in vitro antibacterial, antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of methanolic leaf extracts and steroidal glycoalkaloids fractions (SGAFs) of Solanum incanum L., S. schimperianum Hochst, S. nigrum L., Physalis lagascae Roem. & Schult. and Withania somnifera (L) Dunal. The sensitivity of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria to each extract was variable (IC50 values in the range of 15->1000 µg/mL). The methanolic extract of S. schimperianum leaf demonstrated interesting anti-proliferative activity against the human cell lines tested with IC50 values in the range of 2.69 to 19.83 µg/mL while the highest activity from the SGAFs was obtained from W. somnifera leaf with IC50 values in the range of 1.29 to 5.00 µg/mL. The SGAFs of all species demonstrated higher scavenging activity than their respective methanolic extracts. The SGAF of S. schimperianum displayed the strongest antioxidant activity in both assays with IC50 value 3.5 ± 0.2DPPH and 3.5 ±0.3ABTS µg/mL. GC-MS analysis of methanolic and SGAFs extracts of the studied species revealed the presence of steroidal alkaloids, steroidal saponins, steroids and other compounds like terpenes, phenols and alkanes. Their distribution varied among the species and thus they could provide evidence to assess preliminary chemotaxonomic relationships. Twelve known hydroxycinnamic acid amides were tentatively identified from the methanolic extract of S. schimperianum leaf and N-caffeoyl agmatine appeared with the highest intensity. Moreover, the presence of steroid alkaloids solanopubamine and solanocapsine as well as dehydroderivatives of the 3-amino steroid alkaloids was suggested. Furthermore, three compounds quercetin, kaempferol glycoside and β-sitosterol were isolated and identified. In silico investigation of these three compounds for their potency against cancer revealed that β-sitosterol was found to be the most selective compound against human pregnane X receptor (PXR) and gave the highest binding energy (-11.2 kcal/mol). These results suggested that Solanaceae plants endogenous to Sudan could be a potential source of bioactive agents
... A clinical trial with human taste panels showed that potatoes with GA contents exceeding 14 mg/100 g tasted bitter and those exceeding 1 3 22 mg/100 g produced a mild to severe burning sensation in the mouth and throat [10]. PGAs have some toxic effects on mammals [5,11,12]. They cause gastrointestinal and systemic effects by disrupting the cell membrane and inhibiting the activity of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase in humans [1,3,4]. ...
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Purpose The potato glycoalkaloids (PGAs), α-solanine and α-chaconine can exert adverse effects on human health when consumed in excess. This study aimed to investigate the optimal extraction method for the quantitative analysis of PGAs in whole blood by using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS) and to apply this validated method to postmortem blood. Methods A total of 200 µL of human whole blood was prepared for PGA extraction. For validation, a solid-phase extraction (SPE) using Oasis® PRiME HLB, in which extraction could be performed in three simple steps (sample loading, washing, and elution) was used, with no need for both conditioning and equilibration of columns for sample preparation. Results In this method, the limit of detection and the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of both α-solanine and α-chaconine were 1 and 2 µg/L, respectively. The calibration curves of the two compounds were obtained with good linearity in the range of 2–100 µg/L. The recovery rates at the LLOQ of α-solanine and α-chaconine were ≥ 91.8% and ≥ 85.9%, respectively. The validation data (intra- and inter-day combined) for accuracy ranged from 93.5 to 106.6% for α-solanine and from 93.9 to 107.7% for α-chaconine. This validated method was successfully applied to one forensic autopsy case, and the concentrations of α-solanine and α-chaconine in the postmortem cardiac blood were 45.1 and 35.5 µg/L, respectively. Conclusions This validated UHPLC–MS/MS with SPE for quantitative analysis of PGAs could be useful in forensic toxicology.
... 141 solanine. 144 In hamsters, the teratogenic effects of solasodine may be attributed to the induction of spina bifida, exencephaly, and cranial blebbing. 145 Structure-activity relationship analyses by Friedman et al., 1991, 141 showed that the teratogenic effects of jervanes, solanidanes, and spirosolanes were caused by C-5 and C-6 unsaturation in the steroidal skeleton, and the olefinic linkage at C-5 and C-6 renders them more toxic. ...
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Discovery and development of new potentially selective anticancer agents are necessary to prevent a global cancer health crisis. Currently, alternative medicinal agents derived from plants have been extensively investigated to develop anticancer drugs with fewer adverse effects. Among them, steroidal alkaloids are conventional secondary metabolites that comprise an important class of natural products found in plants, marine organisms and invertebrates, and constitute a judicious choice as potential anti‐cancer leads. Traditional medicine and modern science have shown that representatives from this compound group possess potential antimicrobial, analgesic, anticancer and anti‐inflammatory effects. Therefore, systematic and recapitulated information about the bioactivity of these compounds, with special emphasis on the molecular or cellular mechanisms, is of high interest. In this review, we methodically discuss the in vitro and in vivo potential of the anticancer activity of natural steroidal alkaloids and their synthetic and semi‐synthetic derivatives. This review focuses on cumulative and comprehensive molecular mechanisms, which will help researchers understand the molecular pathways involving steroid alkaloids to generate a selective and safe new lead compound with improved therapeutic applications for cancer prevention and therapy. In vitro and in vivo studies provide evidence about the promising therapeutic potential of steroidal alkaloids in various cancer cell lines, but advanced pharmacokinetic and clinical experiments are required to develop more selective and safe drugs for cancer treatment.
... Several laboratory experiments have shown that the glycoalkaloids are toxic to animal models such as Syrian Golden hamsters, rabbits, rats and mice [50,51,52,53] . Experimental studies by Nishie et al. (1971) further confirmed that the toxicological potency of the agyclone (solanidine) was less when compared that with the solanine revealing that the potential toxicity is mediated by the carbohydrate side chains of the two compounds, α -solanine and α-chaconine [50] . ...
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Potatoes make popular dishes among humans. Currently the fresh potato consumption is decreasing and most of the potatoes are converted to value added products to meet consumer demand. Glycoalkaloids are natural bitter tasting, heat stable toxicants present in potatoes. In the edible tuber, majority of these compounds are confined to the peel. High content of glycoalkaloids impart an off flavour to the potatoes and shown to be toxic to humans and animals. There have been food safety concerns linked with the potatoes and potato based products owing to the unacceptable glycoalkaloid content in the past. Thus the glycoalkaloid content is the major determinant of the quality and safety of edible potatoes. This review highlights major areas relevant to glycoalkaloids in potatoes such as distribution and accumulation in edible tubers, factors enhancing formation, effect of various cooking methods, toxic effects and measures to minimize the content to ensure consumer safety. Keywords: potato, glycoalkaloids, α-solanine, α-chaconine, bitter toxicants
... The difference in composition of the glycosidic chain appears to be responsible for the cytotoxic effects of the two alkaloids (Friedman, 2006;Weissenberg et al., 1998). The toxicity of a-solanine and a-chaconine was evaluated by testing on animals (Alozie et al., 1979;Dalvi, 1985;Langkilde et al., 2008;Nishie et al., 1971;Norred et al., 1976;Sharma et al., 1983) and by clinical investigations (Harris and Whittaker, 1962;Harvey et al., 1985;Patil et al., 1972), but their action mechanism remains almost unknown. However, the two toxins appear to be able to inhibit human acetyl cholinesterase (McGehee et al., 2000) and calcium transport (Michalska et al., 1985), and inhibition transport through cellular membranes (Blankemeyer et al., 1992(Blankemeyer et al., , 1995Toyoda et al., 1991). ...
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Potato (Solanum tuberosum), which belongs to the family Solanaceae, is a native of South America and was introduced in Europe in the sixteenth century by the Spanish at first as a botanical curiosity and subsequently as a food plant. Potato cultivation has spread worldwide, with a high concentration of cropland in Europe. For many people, it serves as a staple food in place of bread. Potatoes are used in the food industry to produce starch, dextrin, and glucose; it is also used in distillation and in animal feed. The market also requires appropriate potato product for canning and for the production of French fries. Potato leaves and fruits can be poisonous because they are rich in α-solanine and α-chaconine, toxic alkaloids that can cause serious damages if consumed in large quantities. There are many varieties of potatoes, which differ in the shape of the tuber and the color of the flesh and skin. This study measures the content of the two toxic alkaloids in 15 different varieties of potatoes considered important for a commercial use; measurements were taken immediately following the collection and after 20 days. The data show that after 20 days the α-solanine content decreases (with the exception of only four varieties), whereas the α-chaconine content increases to alarming levels.
... The kidney and the liver are the most vulnerable organs among the six major organs examined to solanine exposure probably owing to their specialized vasculature organization. Our result supports this prediction that high doses of solanine lead to kidney and liver dysfunctions in vivo (Langkilde et al., 2009;Barceloux, 2009;Langkilde et al., 2008). Whether solanine-induced blood chemistry and hematology changes are reversible are beyond the scope of the present study. ...
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Alpha-solanine, a naturally steroidal glycoalkaloid, is found in leaves and fruits of plants as a defensive agent against fungi, bacteria and insects. Herein, we investigated solanine toxicity in vitro and in vivo, and assessed its protective and the therapeutic effects on a typical animal model of breast cancer. The study conducted in three series of experiments to obtain (i) solanine effects on cell viability of mammary carcinoma cells, (ii) in vivo toxicity of solanine, and (iv) the protective and therapeutic effects of solanine on animal model of breast cancer. Alpha-solanine significantly suppressed proliferation of mouse mammary carcinoma cells both in vitro and in vivo (P<0.05). Under the dosing procedure, 5mg/kg solanine has been chosen for assessing its protective and therapeutic effects in mice breast cancer. Tumor take rate in the solanine-treated group was zero compared with a 75% rate in its respective control group (P<0.05). The average tumor size and weight were significantly lower in solanine-treated animals than its respective control ones (P<0.05). Proapoptotic Bax protein expression increased in breast tumor by solanine compared with its respective control group (P<0.05). Antiapoptotic Bcl-2 protein expression found to be lower in solanine-treated animals (P<0.05). Proliferative and angiogenic parameters greatly decreased in solanine-treated mice (P<0.05). Data provide evidence that solanine exerts a significant chemoprotective and chemotherapeutic effects on an animal model of breast cancer through apoptosis induction, cell proliferation and angiogenesis inhibition. These findings reveal a new therapeutic potential for solanine in cancer.
... As a consequence of the accumulation of high amounts of potato wastes on the environment, several studies have been carried out in order to demonstrate the harmful effect on animals caused by accumulation of the glucoalcaloids asolanine, and a-chaconine which are naturally produced by potatoes [3]. Therefore it is needed to find an efficient way to dispose this waste or processing to convert it in an addedvalue product. ...
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The hydrolysis of non-commercial potatoes to obtain glucose solutions has a double consequence, the elimination of a waste and the generation of a value-added product. Potato hydrolysates can be used to prepare growth media for fermentative processes. This work deals with the modelling of the acid hydrolysis of potato using sulphuric acid. The effect of temperature, time, acid concentration and liquid/solid ratio were evaluated. Considering the important effect and interactions of the variable involved, a statistical Box-Behnken design was conducted including the cited variables as operational variables and concentrations of glucose, fructose, arabinose, acetic acid, furfural and 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furaldehyde (HMF) released as dependent variables. Significant models were obtained. The maximum glucose concentration predicted was 85 kg m−3. The conditions selected as optimal were: Temperature, 120 °C; time, 60 min; acid concentration, 2.4 kg m−3 and liquid/solid ratio, 9.8 g g−1. The acid hydrolysis of dried potatoes gave solutions with 58 kg m−3 of glucose and only 0.47 kg m−3 of HMF. These solutions are adequate for further fermentation process.
... 15 Rodent models show retention in the liver, gut epithelium, and urinary bladder during the initial 24 hr after exposure. [24][25][26] Furthermore, cooking partially denatures and/or degrades the cyclic structure, especially when deep fried (170 8 C). 23 Microwaving at lower temperatures has significantly less destructive effect ...
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A 2.5 yr old female beagle presented for acute abdominal pain and vomiting after consuming limited offerings of green potato skins. Progressive complications associated with suspected ingestion of a higher potency toxin followed within 5 hr. Subsequent investigations revealed a significant ingestion of an Australian shrub commonly called a "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" tree (Brunfelsia australis). The toxic principle for this emerging toxicity is referred to as "strychnine-like" and is potentially lethal with gastrointestinal, central nervous system, and cardiac pathology. This plant is currently being aggressively promoted by United States nurserymen for its dramatic tri-colored blooms and drought resistance.
... The potato peel is rich in phenolic acids (total = 1.976 mg/100 g of dry weight, determined by HPLC) but not usable as fodder due to its high content of toxic glycoalkaloids (total = 893 mg/100 g of dry weight). When used as a sole fodder source, it would exceed by far the concentration limit set for humans and animals (7,31). It could, however, be of interest if mixed with other feed or used as a possible source material for the extraction and utilization of natural antioxidants. ...
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The influence of a commercial production process for dehydrated potato flakes on the content of free phenolic compounds, total phenolics, and glycoalkaloids in potatoes during the subsequent processing steps was determined. Processing byproducts, such as potato peel (steam peeling), mashed potato residues, and side streams (blanching and cooking waters), have also been investigated. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed to separate and quantify caffeic acid, gallic acid, ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, p-hydoxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic acid, vanillic acid, catechin, and three isomers of caffeoylquinic acid: chlorogenic, neochlorogenic and cryptochlorogenic acid. Determination of the glycoalkaloids alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine was performed by using a high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method. The deliverables reveal that processing potatoes to potato flakes remarkably diminishes the content of the analyzed compounds, mainly due to peeling and leaching. The influence of thermal exposure is less significant. About 43% of the initial phenolic acids and 10% of the glycoalkaloids remain after processing. The results of the total phenolic content assay by Folin-Ciocalteu reagent are proportional to the content of phenolic compounds determined by HPLC. Steam peeling has a higher influence on glycoalkaloid losses compared to that on phenolics. The highest amounts of phenolic compounds and glycoalkaloids were found in peeling byproduct. During processing, the amount of chlorogenic acid decreased, whereas the concentration of neochlorogenic acid increased due to isomerization. The impact of the results on potato processing technology is discussed.
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Cells produce free radicals and antioxidants when exposed to toxic compounds during cellular metabolism. However, free radicals are deleterious to lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Antioxidants neutralize and eliminate free radicals from cells, preventing cell damage. Therefore, the study aims to determine whether the antioxidants butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) will ameliorate the maximum dose of acrylamide and alpha (α)-solanine synergistic toxic effects in exposed BEAS-2B cells. These toxic compounds are consumed worldwide by eating potato products. BEAS-2B cells were simultaneously treated with BHA 10 μM and BHT 20 μM and incubated in a 5% CO2 humidified incubator for 24 h, followed by individual or combined treatment with acrylamide (3.5 mM) and α-solanine (44 mM) for 48 h, including the controls. Cell morphology, DNA, RNA, and protein were analyzed. The antioxidants did not prevent acrylamide and α-solanine synergistic effects in exposed BEAS-2B cells. However, cell morphology was altered; polymerase chain reaction (PCR) showed reduced RNA constituents but not DNA. In addition, the toxic compounds synergistically inhibited AKT/PKB expression and its downstream genes. The study showed BHA and BHT are not protective against the synergetic toxic effects of acrylamide and α-solanine in exposed BEAS-2B cells.
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Applying the Sensomics approach, a combination of acitivity guided fractionation and taste dilution analysis (TDA) followed by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-TOF-MS) and one-dimensional and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1D/2D-NMR), allowed the elucidation of key off-taste compounds in potato dietary fibres isolates. Previously already having been described as off-taste compounds in potato tubers, saponins α-chaconine and α-solanine, were shown to also be major contributeurs to overall off-taste in potato fibres isolates. Moreover fatty acids as well as fatty acid oxidation products, namely E-9,10,13-trihydroxy-octadec-11-enoic acid as well as newly identified compounds hexadecyl(E/Z)-ferulate and octadecyl(E/Z)-ferulate were shown to be key inducers to off-taste in the isolates, exhibiting taste recognition thresholds between 18 and 981 µmol/L. This paper demonstrates the isolation, structure determination, quantitation as well as sensory attributes of these key off-taste compounds.
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The best illustration of the gene-diet interaction in nature is the process that generates queen bee and worker bees from larvae, by the selective feeding of royal jelly (Shi et al. 2011). Optimal timing of the nutrients affects the body composition and longevity of the bee. The polyunsaturated fatty acids in the pollen transform the larvae to worker bees, whereas the queen bee is always fed mouth-to-mouth with the royal jelly, which is devoid of polyunsaturates (Hulbert 2010). The literature on diet and cardiovascular health has exponentially increased and does address the finer details (Bhupathiraju and Tucker 2011; Brunner et al. 2008; Daniels et al. 2011; Krachler et al. 2009; Lichtenstein et al. 2006; Marques-Vidal et al. 2004; Mente et al. 2009; Mozaffarian and Capewell 2011; Simopoulos 2001; Sivasankaran 2010; Stamler 2008; Tada et al. 2011; Weintraub et al. 2011). Diet is what we eat; nutrition is what the body gets, but the outcome depends on how our body responds. The importance of traditional diets is well stressed in dietary guidelines as exemplified by the healthy aging seen with Mediterranean diets and in Okinawa islanders of Japan (Bonaccio et al. 2012; Lichtenstein et al. 2006; Sho 2001; Speakman and Mitchell 2011; Willcox et al. 2006; Willett 2006). Given the personal preferences in dietary choices that please the mind and taste buds, dietary guidelines are only good science that needs to be modified by common sense. But marketing strategies of the food industry easily spoil these choices (Scott 2005). Ideal diets are ones that promote health and longevity so that we live to our biological potential (Alpert 2001; Chahoud et al. 2004). It is never too late to adopt this lifestyle modification, since the benefit accrued is rapid and substantial (Capewell and O’Flaherty 2011). Tackling the issues of unhealthy diets is likely to halve the current cardiovascular disease (CVD) epidemic, and give additional benefits in terms of related diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cancer (Mozaffarian and Capewell 2011). This chapter takes you through an interesting journey starting with food processing, evolutionary aspects of diet, and preventive strategies, through the lifecycle effects of nutrition, to provide the reader the scientific background behind the heart-healthy diet plate.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown that high consumption of sprouted potatoes can cause acute toxicities, coma, and death in human. These effects are attributed to glycoalkaloids such as alpha-solanine which is naturally found in potatoes and cereals. It is also frequently appeared during inappropriate transfer and storage after harvesting. The present study is designed to assess the acute and chronic toxicity effects of alpha-solanine in mice. METHODS: In this experimental study, 90 BALB/c male mice were equally divided into acute and chronic groups (n=45). Each group then equally subdivided into control, and 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg groups of alpha-solanine (n=9). Animals were euthanized after 24 hours and 7 days of solanine injection (i.p) in the acute and chronic groups, respectively. Blood samples were taken for hematology and chemical tests. FINDINGS: Alpha-solanine did not significantly effects on hematological and chemical parameters in the acute groups. Red blood cell count was significantly increased (6.1±0.3 to 8.8±0.8, p=0.02), but plasma alkaline phosphatase level was statistically reduced (764±50 to 452±33, p=0.01) in 40 mg/kg chronic groups compared to control. Significant increase was observed in blood levels of sodium (149.4±2.1 to 155.5±1.3, p=0.03), glucose (181±59 to 322±64, p=0.025) and creatinine (0.34±0.008 to 1.07±0.25, p=0.02) in 40 mg/kg chronic groups compared to control. CONCLUSION: The results showed that long-term use of high solanine can dramatically induce hematological and chemical changes in a dose-dependent manner. © 2013, Babol University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Steroidal alkaloids are a class of secondary metabolites isolated from plants, amphibians, and marine invertebrates. Evidence accumulated in the recent two decades demonstrates that steroidal alkaloids have a wide range of bioactivities including anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, etc., suggesting their great potential for application. It is therefore necessary to comprehensively summarize the bioactivities, especially anticancer activities and mechanisms of steroidal alkaloids. Here we systematically highlight the anticancer profiles both in vitro and in vivo of steroidal alkaloids such as dendrogenin, solanidine, solasodine, tomatidine, cyclopamine, and their derivatives. Furthermore, other bioactivities of steroidal alkaloids are also discussed. The integrated molecular mechanisms in this review can increase our understanding on the utilization of steroidal alkaloids and contribute to the development of new drug candidates. Although the therapeutic potentials of steroidal alkaloids look promising in the preclinical and clinical studies, further pharmacokinetic and clinical studies are mandated to define their efficacy and safety in cancer and other diseases. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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The steroidal glycoalkaloid solamargine and its parent aglycone solasodine, isolated from Solanum palinacanthum, were studied in vitro for cytotoxicity and biotransformation by the hepatic S9 fraction as the metabolic activating system. The MTT uptake assay was used to determine viability after 24 h in RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage-like and SiHa cells exposed to various concentrations of the alkaloids in the presence and absence of the hepatic S9 microsomal fraction. The dose–response curves were established for solamargine and solasodine in the presence and absence of external metabolizing system. From these data, the cytotoxic index (CI50) was calculated with mean values of 7.2 and 13.6 μg/mL for Raw cells and 8.6 and 26.0 μg/mL for SiHa cells, respectively. Mass spectrometry was performed to compare the fragmentation patterns of the alkaloids to predict metabolism by the S9 fraction. The mass spectra demonstrated a distinct fragmentation patterns for solamargine and solasodine after the addition of the S9 fraction. In the present study, we demonstrate that the cytotoxic effect of solamargine and solasodine and their metabolites prepared in vitro by biotransformation with the S9 fraction are comparable. These findings suggest that the metabolic activation system S9 fraction may fail to suppress the cytotoxicity of these alkaloids.
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α-Solanine and α-chaconine are well-known potato toxins, but the mechanism of the synergistic cytotoxic effect of these alkaloids has been little clarified. This study confirmed their synergistic cytotoxic effects on C6 rat glioma cells by three different cell viability tests, namely WST-1 (water-soluble tetrazolium) assay sensitive to intracellular NADH concentration, menadione-catalysed chemiluminescent assay depending on both NAD(P)H concentration and NAD(P)H:quinone reductase activity, and LDH (lactate dehydrogenase) assay sensitive to the release of LDH from damaged cells. The maximum cytotoxic effect was observed at a ratio of 1:1 between α-solanine and α-chaconine at micromolar concentrations. The cytotoxic effects of these alkaloids were observed immediately after incubation and were constant after 30min, suggesting that rapid damage of plasma membrane causes the lethal disorder of metabolism.
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Naturally occurring potato glycoalkaloids are produced mainly in meristematic tissues; an accumulation of these compounds may be observed particularly in response to some adverse conditions such as heat; previous preliminary observations in this respect seem to indicate a possible growth modulating effect by glycoalkaloids in the potato plant. Here we report the results from a series of experiments designed to describe the effect of potato glycoalkaloids in the rooting media on the growth of seedlings developed from axillary buds cultivated in vitro. Axillary buds were obtained from greenhouse plants to study the effect of alkaloids on their growth at ambient and supra optimal temperature. a-Solanine, a-chaconine and solanidine were extracted from meristems and purified by thin layer chromatography; they were found to occur consistently in a ratio of 45:45:10, respectively. Either in these or in equimolar proportions, the isolated alkaloids were mixed and added to the growth medium in order to evaluate their effect on seedling growth. At ambient temperature, when alkaloids were present in the 45:45:10 ratio, results showed a clear negative effect on stem elongation in an concentration dependent fashion; 10uM caused a 48% reduction in stem length with respect to controls after incubation for 45 days; 50 uM further inhibited elongation, caused chlorosis and inhibition of root growth. 100uM caused complete inhibition of seedling development over the same period. Present in equimolar proportion alkaloids did not have as severe an effect. The presence of 50uM total alkaloids in equimolar proportions at 30º C caused a dramatic alteration in developmental pattern resulting in rosette seedlings. A regulatory capacity of alkaloids is discussed.
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Glycoalkaloids alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine are naturally present toxicants in the potato plant (Solanumtuberosum). Human intake of high doses of glycoalkaloids has led to acute intoxication, in severe cases coma and death. Previous studies have indicated that the ratio of alpha-solanine to alpha-chaconine may determine the degree and nature of the glycoalkaloid toxicity in potatoes, as the toxicity of the two alkaloids act synergistically. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether an altered ratio of alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine would reduce the toxicity of the glycoalkaloids. The Syrian Golden hamster was given daily doses of alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine by gavage for 28 days. Doses of up to 33.3 mg total glycoalkaloids/kg body weight were applied in ratios of 1:3.7 and 1:70 (alpha-solanine:alpha-chaconine). Administration of the highest doses of both ratios resulted in distended and fluid filled small intestines and stomach. Animals receiving the ratio with the reduced content of alpha-solanine were less affected compared to those receiving the other ratio. Gene expression profiling experiments were conducted using RNA from epithelial scrapings from the small intestines of the hamsters administered the highest doses of the glycoalkaloid treatments. In general, more differential gene expression was observed in the epithelial scrapings of the hamsters fed the ratio of 1:3.7. Mostly, pathways involved in lipid and energy metabolism were affected by the ratio of 1:3.7.
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Most test systems for acetylcholinesterase activity (E.C.3.1.1.7.) are using toxic inhibitors (BW284c51 and iso-OMPA) to distinguish the enzyme from butyrylcholinesterase (E.C.3.1.1.8.) which occurs simultaneously in the cerebrospinal fluid. Applying Ellman's colorimetric method, we were looking for a non-toxic inhibitor to restrain butyrylcholinesterase activity. Based on results of previous in vitro studies bupivacaine emerged to be a suitable inhibitor. Pharmacokinetic investigations with purified cholinesterases have shown maximum inhibition of butyrylcholinesterase activity and minimal interference with acetylcholinesterase activity at bupivacaine final concentrations between 0.1 and 0.5 mmol/l. Based on detailed analysis of pharmacokinetic data we developed three equations representing enzyme inhibition at bupivacaine concentrations of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.5 mmol/l. These equations allow us to calculate the acetylcholinesterase activity in solutions containing both cholinesterases utilizing the extinction differences measured spectrophotometrically in samples with and without bupivacaine. The accuracy of the bupivacaine-inhibition test could be confirmed by investigations on solutions of both purified cholinesterases and on samples of human cerebrospinal fluid. If butyrylcholinesterase activity has to be assessed simultaneously an independent test using butyrylthiocholine iodide as substrate (final concentration 5 mmol/l) has to be conducted. The bupivacaine-inhibition test is a reliable method using spectrophotometrical techniques to measure acetylcholinesterase activity in cerebrospinal fluid. It avoids the use of toxic inhibitors for differentiation of acetylcholinesterase from butyrylcholinesterase in fluids containing both enzymes. Our investigations suggest that bupivacaine concentrations of 0.1, 0.2 or 0.5 mmol/l can be applied with the same effect using 1 mmol/l acetylthiocholine iodide as substrate.
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Glycoalkaloids in potatoes may induce gastro-intestinal and systemic effects, by cell membrane disruption and acetylcholinesterase inhibition, respectively. The present single dose study was designed to evaluate the toxicity and pharmacokinetics of orally administered potato glycoalkaloids (alpha-chaconine and alpha-solanine). It is the first published human volunteer study were pharmacokinetic data were obtained for more than 24 h post-dose. Subjects (2-3 per treatment) received one of the following six treatments: (1-3) solutions with total glycoalkaloid (TGA) doses of 0.30, 0.50 or 0.70 mg/kg body weight (BW), or (4-6) mashed potatoes with TGA doses of 0.95, 1.10 or 1.25 mg/kg BW. The mashed potatoes had a TGA concentration of nearly 200 mg/kg fresh weight (the presently recognised upper limit of safety). None of these treatments induced acute systemic effects. One subject who received the highest dose of TGA (1.25 mg/kg BW) became nauseous and started vomiting about 4 h post-dose, possibly due to local glycoalkaloid toxicity (although the dosis is lower than generally reported in the literature to cause gastro-intestinal disturbances). Most relevant, the clearance of glycoalkaloids usually takes more than 24 h, which implicates that the toxicants may accumulate in case of daily consumption.
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In studies of the lysis of rabbit erythrocytes, red beet cells, andPenicillium notatum protoplasts by the potato glycoalkaloids α-solanine and α-chaconine, the latter was consistently the more membrane-disruptive compound and erythrocytes the more susceptible cell type. A 1∶1 mixture of solanine and chaconine produced pronounced synergistic effects in all three test systems. In beet cells, such effects were apparent from an early stage of treatment and persisted over a period of several hours. With erythrocytes and fungal protoplasts, the synergism was maximal with mixtures containing approximately 70% chaconine, whereas with beet cells it peaked at approximately 40% chaconine. Synergistic interactions between solanine and chaconine also occurred with regard to cholesterol binding in vitro, with a maximum response corresponding to the 50% mixture. The implications of these findings for the nature and efficacy of chemical defense systems in plants are discussed.
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As part of an effort to improve the safety of plant-derived foods, the role of the carbohydrate side chain has been explored in biological effects of potato glycoalkaloids such as alpha-chaconine. This steroid glycoalkaloid has a trisaccharide attached to the 3-hydroxy position of the steroidal aglycon solanidine. This study attempts to define the effect of structurally different alcohols on the partial hydrolysis of alpha-chaconine to beta(1)-chaconine, beta(2)-chaconine, gamma-chaconine, and solanidine. Partial hydrolyses were carried out in 97.5% alcohol-0.25 N HCl at 60 degrees C. HPLC was used to measure the distribution of hydrolysis products as a function of time. The rate of hydrolysis of alpha-chaconine in the straight-chain alcohol solutions was as follows: methanol > ethanol = l-butanol > propanol > pentanol much greater than water. The longer the chain, the slower the rate of hydrolysis except for the anomalous result that the extent of hydrolysis in l-butanol was equal to that in ethanol. However hydrolysis in 2-butanol was slower than in l-butanol. Surprisingly, hydrolysis in tert-butyl alcohol was slowest, proceeding more slowly than even in l-pentanol. The formation of gamma-chaconine was also greatly reduced in tert-butyl alcohol. Mechanistic rationalizations are offered to explain the observed trends in terms of the hydrophobic-hydrophilic nature of the glycoalkaloids and the solvation properties of the alcohols. The results should be generally useful for optimizing or minimizing the formation of specific hydrolysis products.
Article
Both the steroidal glycoalkaloid mixture from potato (α-solanine and α-chaconine) and pure α-tomatine are able to complex with the sterols cholesterol, sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol and ergosterol in vitro. The sterol-complexing ability of tomatine was greater than that of the potato alkaloids and more akin to that of the steroidal saponin, digitonin. With all three compounds, cholesterol was the least-readily bound sterol while binding to other sterols was of a similar order. Complex formation with tomatine was not markedly influenced by temperature, and with the aglycone tomatidine did not appear to occur at all.
Article
1. The toxicokinetics of [3H]-α-solanine after oral (p.o.) and intravenous (i.v.) administration in rat and hamster were studied, in order to decide which is the most appropriate model in risk assessment studies. The i.v. Dose was 54 βg/kg; the oral dose was 170 βg/kg.2. After i.v. Administration, the toxicokinetics of total radioactivity in blood were comparable in rat and hamster. However, the clearance of total radioactivity from plasma was more effective in rat than in hamster. The half-lives of distribution and of the terminal phase of unchanged α-solanine were not different between rat and hamster, whereas the systemic and metabolic clearance were, respectively, about 1.6 and 2.7 times higher in rat than in hamster. The clearance of unchanged α-solanine is more effective than of total radioactivity.3. After p.o. Administration in rat and hamster, the mean bioavailability of total radioactivity is about 29 and 57%, respectively. The bioavailability of unchanged α-solanine is only 1.6 and 3.2%, respec...
Article
Potatoes, members of the Solanaceae plant family, serve as a major, inexpensive food source for both energy (starch) and good-quality protein, with worldwide production of about 350 million tons per year. U.S. per capita consumption of potatoes is about 61 kg/year. Potatoes also produce potentially toxic glycoalkaloids, both during growth and after harvest. Glycoalkaloids appear to be more toxic to man than to other animals. The toxicity may be due to anticholinesterase activity of the glycoalkaloids on the central nervous system and to disruptions of cell membranes affecting the digestive system and other organs. The possible contribution of glycoalkaloids to the multifactorial aspects of teratogenicity is inconclusive. Possible safe levels are controversial; guidelines limiting glycoalkaloid content of potato cultivars are currently being debated. This review presents an integrated, critical assessment of the multifaceted aspects of the role glycoalkaloids play in nutrition and food safety; chemistry and analysis; plant physiology, including biosynthesis, distribution, inheritance, host-plant resistance, and molecular biology; preharvest conditions such as soil composition and climate; and postharvest events such as effects of light, temperature, storage time, humidity, mechanical injury, sprouting inhibition, and processing. Further research needs are suggested for each of these categories in order to minimize pre- and postharvest glycoalkaloid synthesis. The overlapping aspects are discussed in terms of general concepts for a better understanding of the impact of glycoalkaloids in plants and in the human diet. Such an understanding can lead to the development of potato varieties with a low content of undesirable compounds and will further promote the utilization of potatoes as a premier food source for animals and humans.
Article
To test the effect of glycoalkaloids on sodium ion active transport, frog skin was exposed to the potato glycoalkaloids alpha-chaconine and alpha-solanine in a glass Ussing chamber. It was found that the short-circuit current (ISC), the measure of transepithelial active transport of sodium, decreased up to 30% at an alpha-chaconine concentration of 10 mg/L. alpha-Solanine had a similar but smaller effect, decreasing short-circuit current by 16%. The data suggest that (a) frog skin is a useful experimental model to evaluate effects of glycoalkaloids at the cellular level and (b) the mechanism of action of the two glycoalkaloids is to modify the active transport of sodium. The possible significance of these findings to food safety is discussed.
Article
Volatile flavour compounds produced when potato tubers are boiled have been related to polar and non-polar metabolites present in raw tubers.
Article
As part of a program to improve the safety of plant-derived foods such as potatoes, the developmental toxicity of seven structurally related individual compounds was examined using the Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus (FETAX). The objective was to assess the role of the carbohydrate part of Solatium glycosides in influencing the developmental toxicity of these compounds. Comparative evaluations were carried out bn the triglycosides α-chaconine and α-solanine, the diglycosides β1- and β2-chaconine and β2-solanine, and the monoglycosides γ-chaconine and γ-solanine. The results show that biological activity is influenced by the chemical structure of the carbohydrate, i.e., galactose, glucose, or rhamnose; the number of carbohydrate groups making up the side chain attached to the 3-OH position of the aglycon solanidine; and the stereochemical orientation of the chaconine diglycosides. The developmental toxicity of these compounds in FETAX generally decreased following removal of the carbohydrates from the triglycosides.
Article
As part of a broader plan designed to characterize Solanum glycoalkaloids and their hydrolysis products and biosynthetic intermediates, to identify plant enzymes in the biosynthetic pathways, and to develop a relative toxicity scale for glycoalkaloids, we examined conditions that favor the hydrolysis of carbohydrate portions of alpha-chaconine and alpha-solanine. These two triglycosides can each form two diglycosides, one monoglycoside, the so- called beta1-, beta2-, and gamma-chaconines and -solanines, and a common aglycon, solanidine. An incomplete hydrolysis mixture should therefore contain nine compounds. Hydrolyses were carried out in 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 N HCl-methanol at 38, 55, and 65-degrees-C for various time periods. The individual carbohydrate residues in tri-, di-, and monosaccharides differed significantly in their susceptibilities to acid hydrolysis. Hydrolysis rates increased with HCl concentration and temperature. Hydrolytic stabilities of the carbohydrate groups attached to alpha-chaconine and alpha-solanine situated in a potato matrix appear to be similar to those of the pure compounds. By varying the hydrolysis conditions, it was possible to optimize the formation of specific compounds. Eight compounds were isolated and characterized with the aid of preparative chromatography on aluminum oxide columns, thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry. Efforts to isolate beta1-solanine were unsuccessful. Our findings should facilitate characterization of biosynthetic intermediates in plants and of metabolites in animal tissues, as well as assessment of relative safety. Mechanistic aspects of the acid hydrolysis and the significance of the findings to food safety and plant molecular biology are discussed.
Article
To demonstrate whether potato glycoalkaloids can alter the integrity of membranes of frog embryo, albino frog embryos were incubated with α-chaconine and α-solanine. Di-4-ANEPPS, an electrochromic fluorescent dye, was added to measure embryonic membrane potential. α-Chaconine increased the Di-4-ANEPPS fluorescence up to 1600% of control, α-solanine increased the fluorescence up to 400%, and solanidine had no effect. Increases in fluorescence, when plotted in a concentration-response format, produced EC50 values near published values for FETAX (frog embryo teratogenicity assay—Xenopus). Possible mechanisms and the significance of the fluorescence results to food safety are discussed.
Article
The distribution, absorption, metabolism and tissue binding of radioactivity were studied in hamsters after oral and intraperitoneal administration of α-chaconine-(3H). The material was well absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and nearly 25% of the label was excreted in 7 days via urine and feces. The excretion was higher in urine (24%) than in feces (1%). Tissue concentrations of radioactivity peaked at 12 h following po administration, with the highest concentrations being in lungs, liver, spleen, skeletal muscle, kidney and pancreas, with heart and brain containing moderate amounts. Excretion of chloroform-soluble products in the feces was 100 higher than that of chloroform-insoluble metabolites after oral and ip administration. In urine, the activity was predominantly in the chloroform-insoluble form and the chloroform-soluble metabolites were relatively small in amounts (0.29, 0.85 and 2.45% versus 0.0, 0.14 and 0.19 for 12, 24 and 72 h, respectively). After 7 days, the chloroform-soluble metabolites in urine increased to 20% of the excreted radioactivity, while the amount of chloroform-insoluble metabolites was less than 1%. Subcellular distribution of the labeled compound indicated the highest concentration of radioactivity in the nuclear and microsomal fractions of brain, liver, and heart tissues. Binding of radioactivity was observed in brain, testes, kidney, lung, liver and heart. All of the label in brain appeared to be in bound form. The results indicated that α-chaconine which is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract after oral administration persists in various tissues, much of it in bound (nonextractable) form (in microsomal fraction).
Article
At pH 7.2, the steroidal glycoalkaloid α-chaconine disrupted phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol liposomes whereas α-solanine was virtually without effect. A glycoalkaloid mixture extracted from potato sprouts and comprising approximately equal amounts of solanine and chaconine had, at 150 μM, a lytic effect the same as a 150 μM solution of chaconine only. The apparent synergistic interaction between the two compounds was confirmed using 1:1 mixtures of authentic solanine and chaconine from different sources and of different batches. Combinations (1:1) of solanine or chaconine and tomatine or digitonin (both of which lysed liposomes) or β2-chaconine (which is non-lytic) did not produce synergistic effects. The synergism between solanine and chaconine was observed only when the two compounds were present together, although the order of addition into the test system did not appear crucial. Pretreatment of liposomes with one glycoalkaloid and its subsequent removal did not permanently sensitize the membranes to the second glycoalkaloid. The magnitude of the synergism was dependent on the relative amounts of solanine and chaconine with maximal effects where chaconine comprised 40% or more of the mixture.
Article
Metabolic profiling methods are not ideally suited to the simultaneous analysis of all metabolite classes within a biological sample and must be optimized for maximum applicability. Several factors related to the optimization, validation and limitations of a GC–MS-based metabolic profiling method for potato were examined. A key step is conversion of reducing sugars to methyloximes, and optimum reaction conditions were 50°C for 4h. Shorter times or lower temperatures resulted in incomplete oximation whereas longer times and higher temperatures caused hydrolysis of sucrose, the major tuber dissacharide. Metabolite concentration gradients were observed in tuber sections. Glucose, fructose, alanine, methionine, threonine and tyrosine were more concentrated in the interior, whereas asparagine, putrescine, and caffeic and chlorogenic acids were higher in the skin and citrate was concentrated at the tuber’s bud end. These results impact upon choice of sampling strategy, consequently the use of freeze-dried (FD) material from a sampling protocol developed to avoid gradient-induced bias was examined. Using FD material, the method was highly linear and there was little qualitative or quantitative difference in the metabolite composition between fresh and FD material. The short- and long-term repeatability of the method was studied, and the use of reference materials to monitor and to improve data quality is discussed. Ascorbate is an important tuber metabolite that is readily measured by targeted approaches, but can be a problem in metabolic profiling. It was shown for standards and FD potato that ascorbate was largely degraded during oximation, although some survived in FD material.
Article
Seven solanaceous glycoalkaloids (α-chaconine, β2-chaconine, α-solanine, dehydrocommersonine, commersonine, demissine and tomatine) and three alkaloids (solanidine, tomatidine and demissidine) were tested for their ability to inhibit acetyl cholinesterase in anin vitro system. Glycoalkaloids at concentrations of 33–41 parts per million (ppm) gave cholinesterase inhibition ranging from 4.2 to 26.8%. All three alkaloids had lower anticholinesterase (4.2 to 15.4%) than the seven glycoalkaloids, except for tomatine. Two well-known cholinesterase inhibitors, carbaryl, a carbamate insecticide and Guthion, an organophosphate insecticide, were also tested for comparison. It required only 1 to 2 ppm of the insecticides to give the same average percent inhibition as was observed with the glycoalkaloids at concentrations of 33–35 ppm.
Article
The nutrient and glycoalkaloid content of a new potato meal produced as a by-product of starch manufacture using low temperature dehydration was determined. Comparisons were made between the new potato meal and the previously manufactured meal which was prepared by high temperature dehydration. The glycoalkaloid content of the new potato meal was 15.53mg α-chaconine and 4.75mg α-solanine per 100g meal compared to 15.79mg α-chaconine and 7.83mg α-solanine in the potato meal produced by high temperature dehydration. The new potato meal contained 2% more protein and 1.9, 3.4 and 1.2 times more niacin, riboflavin and thiamin, respectively than the previous by-product. The potassium and phosphorus concentrations were approximately 2.0 and 0.2%, respectively. Other minerals were found in lesser concentrations with the sodium content being only 7.4mg/100g potato meal. A 28g serving would provide approximately 5, 7 and 4% of the RDA for protein, niacin and thiamin, respectively.
Article
Excretion of α-chaconine-(3H) and its metabolites was investigated after oral and intraperitoneal administration in hamsters. The separation of the glycoalkaloid and its metabolites in feces and urine was accomplished by thin layer chromatography and strip counting technique. An increase in the concentration of excreted α-chaconine and its metabolites in feces and urine was observed with time. In urine over 50% of the eliminated radioactivity during the initial 24 hr was due to unaltered α-chaconine and solanidine, and the fraction of the total dose administered which was excreted represented approximately <1.0% in feces and about 26% in urine during the 7 day test period. Contrary to the general belief that potato glycoalkaloids are not well absorbed after oral administration, only 4% or less was excreted in feces during the initial 72 hrs, a fact, supported by the binding of radioactivity to tissues.
Article
The effects of variety, tuber group, storage period and storage type on glycoalkaloid levels of potato tubers and sprouts were investigated. Normal, wounded and greened tubers and sprouts from potatoes of varieties Marfona and Granola were analysed for α-solanine, α-chaconine and total glycoalkaloid concentration by using HPLC. The potatoes were stored in normal store light, normal store dark, retail refrigerator light, and retail refrigerator dark. Analyses were carried out at the beginning, 3rd and 6th months for the potatoes, and at 6th month for the sprouts. The tubers had an α-solanine content ranging from 0.01 to 6.46 mg/kg FW, α-chaconine content from 0.35 to 28.12 mg/kg FW and total glycoalkaloid content from 0.66 to 32.76 mg/kg FW.
Article
Despite its status as a food of global importance, the potato tuber contains toxic glycoalkaloids (GA) that cause sporadic outbreaks of poisoning in humans. Probably because GA are natural compounds present in a staple food that has been used for millenia, their effects on humans have not been investigated as thoroughly as they would have been had they been synthetic additives-the use of which is stringently regulated. As a result, a number of lingering uncertainties remain concerning both the presence of GA in potato tubers and potato products and their effects on humans.
Article
This study was designed to determine the influence of two light sources and temperature on the total glycoalkaloid (TGA) content of potato tubers cultivated in Brazil. Tubers of cv Monaliza were exposed during 14 days to the following conditions: (1) indirect sunlight, (2) fluorescent light, (3) storage in darkness under refrigeration, and (4) storage in darkness under room temperature. The glycoalkaloids α-solanine and α-chaconine were determined using a reversed phase C18 HPLC column with a photodiode array detector. Exposure of potato tubers to fluorescent light resulted in the highest TGA levels. Smaller tubers presented the highest TGA concentrations, irrespective of the light source and temperature. Although the TGA levels at the end of the experiments were higher than the initial content, a steady increase of TGA concentration was observed only in tubers exposed to fluorescent light. The levels of TGA found in the analysed potato samples were below 200 mg kg-1, value that has been considered to be safe for human consumption.
Article
A comparative study of acute and chronic ip administration was made in pregnant and nonpregnant (female) rats of alkaloidal (α-chaconine, α-solanine total glycoalkaloidal extract (TGA-extract)) and phenolic compounds (chlorogenic and caffeic acid) from Solanum Tuberosum L. The acute LD50 and 95% confidence limits for α-chaconine, α-solanine, and the TGA-extract were 84 (65.6–107.5), 67 (52.3–85.7), and 60 mg/kg (35.7–100.8). There was no significant difference in their potency at the 95% confidence limit. Chronic adminstration of α-chaconine, α-solanine, and the TGA-extract to nonpregnant rats for 2 days (40 mg/kg/day) and 8 days (20 mg/kg/day) resulted in 40 and 42% mortality, respectively. Eight daily injections of α-chaconine (5–20 mg/kg) on Days 5–12 or 2 (40 mg/kg) on Days 5 and 6 to pregnant rats resulted in maternal (40–66%) and fetal death (15–100%), whereas α-solanine and the TGA-extract administered similarly were lethal only to the fetus (17–86%). Eight daily injections of chlorogenic (5–500 mg/kg) and caffeic acid (40–187.5 mg/kg) on Days 5–12 of gestation did not cause maternal or fetal lethality. None of the compounds tested produced neural tube defects, but a few 21-day-old fetuses had rib abnormalities.
Article
The induction of hepatic ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity in rat livers by the potato glycoalkaloids alpha-solanine, alpha-chaconine, and their aglycone solanidine, has been studied. Ip administration of alpha-solanine at 7.5, 15 and 30 mg/kg body weight produced markedly elevated enzyme activity at 4 hr after treatment, with a linear dose response. The increase was four-fold at the lowest dose administered to 12-fold at the highest. ODC activity was measured at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 24hr after alpha-solanine was given. A statistically significant increase in enzyme activity was evident at 3 hr after treatment; maximal activity occurred at 5 hr and was approximately 12 times greater than the dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) control level. Elevated activities persisted for several hours, decreasing to about one-third of the maximal level at 8 hr. The relative effects of alpha-solanine, alpha-chaconine and solanidine on ODC activities were studied at 4 hr using an equimolar dose of 17 mM/kg body weight. ODC activity induced by alpha-chaconine was higher than that induced by alpha-solanine; the latter activity was two-thirds that of the former. The aglycone solanidine did not induce any increase in activity compared with the DMSO control. ODC activity with dexamethasone, a glucocorticoid, at 4 mg/kg body weight, followed a pattern similar to that of alpha-solanine. However, maximal activity occurred slightly earlier at 4 hr after treatment. The results show that the extent of induced ODC activity depends on the structure of the potato alkaloid.
Article
Greened or sprouted potatoes contain increased concentrations of steroidal alkaloids that have caused intoxication and death in a wide variety of animal species, however, the cause of death in these animals has not been determined. Potato alkaloids can cause death when parenterally administered, and is attributed to the acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity of solanine and chaconine. To determine the cause of death in animals ingesting potato sprout material, 40 Syrian hamsters were divided into 4 equal groups and gavaged once on day 0 either water, 300 mg of potato sprout material, 400 mg of potato sprout material, or 500 mg of potato sprout material. Tissues were examined grossly and microscopically at 72 hr post-gavaging and brain acetylcholinesterase activity of each hamster was measured. The 300-mg dose group had increased mean acetylcholinesterase activity compared with control hamster mean activity, and the 400-mg and 500-mg dose groups had 90% and 84% of the mean acetylcholinesterase activity of the control hamster mean activity. There was severe gastric and proximal small intestinal mucosal necrosis in those hamsters which died prior to euthanasia. Additionally, several hamsters had valvular endocarditis and infarcts. Death could not be attributed to the slight acetylcholinesterase inhibition in the 2 higher dose hamster groups and was related to the severe gastrointestinal necrosis which occurred in hamsters of these groups.
Article
An oral dose of 250 mg/kg of solanine did not alter the activities of serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) and serum cholinesterase (ChE) in male rats 24 hr following the treatment. However, i.p. administered solanine (20 mg/kg) significantly increased the levels of SGOT and SGPT, and decreased the activities of ChE and microsomal enzymes, including cytochrome P-450, suggesting ingested solanine is several times less hepatotoxic than i.p. administered solanine, probably due to its poor absorption from the stomach.
Article
Keeler et al. (78) showed that potato sprouts could be teratogens for the central nervous system in the Syrian hamster. We demonstrate here the same teratogenic effect from a British cultivar, Arran Pilot. Most of the activity was traced to the two solanidine triglycosides, alpha-chaconine and, at a higher dose level, alpha-solanine. Some possible implications for the study of human neural-tube defects are considered.
Article
alpha-Chaconine is a toxic steroidal alkaloid present as a glycoside in potatoes. alpha-Chaconine was previously reported to bind with cell homogenates of various tissues. The extent of binding of 3H-alpha-chaconine in various macromolecular and subcellular fractions of liver after oral administration in female Swiss-Webster mice was investigated. No binding of this alkaloid was noted with isolated DNA or RNA fractions. The proportion of bound activity increased as the time between dosing and sampling increased, although the total alkaloid present in the organelles decreased. The extent of binding did not change when the doses ranged between 1 and 10 mg/kg. Induction of liver microsomal enzymes by treatment with dibenzo[a]pyrene increased the percent binding in all fractions except the proteins in the post-microsomal supernatant. Similar treatment with Aroclor 1254 and phenobarbital failed to produce increased binding in any of the fractions.
Article
Eating green potatoes has reportedly led to poisoning attributed to potato glycoalkaloids (PGA), primarily alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine. Concentrations of PGA increase during the greening of potatoes but are reportedly much higher in potato tops (leaves). As it is known that members of the UK Bangladeshi community consume potato tops, a study of the toxic hazard that may be associated with the consumption of green potato tops has been carried out. PGA in seven potato varieties were determined by HPLC. Tubers protected from light contained 0.05-0.65 mg/100 g alpha-solanine and 0.3-0.63 mg/100 g alpha-chaconine. Concentrations in leaf samples ranged from 0.64 to 22.6 mg alpha-solanine/100 g and 0.06 to 55.7 mg alpha-chaconine/100 g. Aqueous leaf extracts were cytotoxic to Chinese hamster ovary cells and lysed human, rat and hamster blood cells with no difference in sensitivity among species. Oral administration of potato tops to rats, mice and Syrian hamsters had no adverse effects at the highest practicable dose. A mixture of alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine (1:1, w/w) given orally at doses of up to 50 mg/kg body weight to hamsters had no effect, but a single ip injection of 25 mg/kg body weight or greater was lethal, with bleeding in the gut. High concentrations of cytotoxic PGA were found in some potato tops, but their effect in laboratory animals was minimal. It is concluded that the consumption of moderate quantities of potato tops (2-5 g/kg body weight/day) is unlikely to represent an acute health hazard to humans.
Article
The glycoalkaloid content in 12 commercial varieties of Mexican potatoes was measured by HPLC in both the peel and the flesh of the potato. The principal glycoalkaloids alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine were present in higher concentration in the peel than in the flesh of all varieties. The main alkaloid in the peel of the potatoes was alpha-chaconine and comprised about 65-71% of the total glycoalkaloids. The high concentration of alpha-chaconine in peel, which is more toxic than alpha-solanine, gives more protection to the tuber against predators. The total alkaloids in the peel of Alpha, Juanita, Michoacan, Norteña, Rosita, and Tollocan varieties were higher than the limit recommended for food safety. However, the peel represents less than 10% of the total tuber in most of the varieties. The total alkaloids contained in the peel of Atzimba, Lopez, Marciana, Montsama, Murca, and Puebla was lower than the limits recommended for food safety. The glycoalkaloid content in the boiled peeled potatoes was less than 9 mg/100 g but in Alpha, Montsama, and Puebla varieties, both glycoalkaloids were absent. According to the results, the consumption of the 12 commercial varieties of Mexican potatoes does not represent any danger to human health.
Article
The duration of action for many pharmaceutical agents is dependent on their breakdown by endogenous hydrolytic enzymes. Dietary factors that interact with these enzyme systems may alter drug efficacy and time course. Cholinesterases such as acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) hydrolyze and inactivate several anesthetic drugs, including cocaine, heroin, esmolol, local ester anesthetics, and neuromuscular blocking drugs. Natural glycoalkaloid toxins produced by plants of the family Solanaceae, which includes potatoes and tomatoes, inhibit both AChE and BuChE. Here the authors assess the extent to which two solanaceous glycoalkaloids (SGAs), alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine, can alter the effects of neuromuscular blocking drugs and cholinesterase inhibitors in vivo and in vitro. Inhibition of purified human AChE and BuChE by SGAs, neuromuscular blocking drugs, and cholinesterase inhibitors was assessed by an in vitro colorimetric cholinesterase assay. In vivo experiments were carried out using anesthetized rabbits to test whether SGAs affect recovery from mivacurium-induced paralysis. SGAs inhibited human BuChE at concentrations similar to those found in serum of individuals who have eaten a standard serving of potatoes. Coapplication of SGAs (30-100 nm) with neuromuscular blocking drugs and cholinesterase inhibitors produced additive cholinesterase inhibition. SGA administration to anesthetized rabbits inhibited serum cholinesterase activity and mivacurium hydrolysis. In addition, SGA prolonged the time needed for recovery from mivacurium-induced paralysis (149 +/- 12% of control; n = 12). These findings support the hypothesis that inhibition of endogenous enzyme systems by dietary factors can influence anesthetic drug metabolism and duration of action. Diet may contribute to the wide variation in recovery time from neuromuscular blockade seen in normal, healthy individuals.
Article
Glucuronide conjugates represent one of the major types of naturally occurring phase 2 metabolites of xenobiotics and endobiotics. The process underlying their formation, glucuronidation, is normally considered detoxifying, because glucuronides usually possess less intrinsic biological or chemical activity than their parent aglycones and they are rapid excreted. However, a number of glucuronide conjugates are known that are active and may contribute to pharmacological activities or toxicities associated with their parent compounds. These include two classes of glucuronides with electrophilic chemical reactivity (N-O-glucuronides of hydroxamic acids and acyl glucuronides of carboxylic acids) and several types of glucuronides that impart biological effects through non-covalent interactions (morphine 6-O-glucuronide, retinoid glucuronides, and D-ring glucuronides of estrogens). Glucuronides may thus contribute to clinically significant effects, including environmental arylamine-induced carcinogenesis, drug hypersensitivity and other toxicities associated with carboxylic acid drugs, morphine analgesia, and cholestasis from estrogens. This review summarizes the rat and human UDP-glucuronosyltransferases that may be involved in the formation of bioactive glucuronides, including their substrate- and tissue-specificity and genetic and environmental influences on their activity. This knowledge may be useful for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy and minimizing the risk of adverse effects associated with xenobiotics that undergo bioactivating glucuronidation reactions.
Article
The sulfonation of endogenous molecules is a pervasive biological phenomenon that is not always easily understood, and although it is increasingly recognized as a function of fundamental importance, there remain areas in which significant cognizance is still lacking or at most minimal. This is particularly true in the field of endocrinology, in which the sulfoconjugation of hormones is a widespread occurrence that is only partially, if at all, appreciated. In the realm of steroid/sterol sulfoconjugation, the discovery of a novel gene that utilizes an alternative exon 1 to encode for two sulfotransferase isoforms, one of which sulfonates cholesterol and the other pregnenolone, has been an important advance. This is significant because cholesterol sulfate plays a crucial role in physiological systems such as keratinocyte differentiation and development of the skin barrier, and pregnenolone sulfate is now acknowledged as an important neurosteroid. The sulfonation of thyroglobulin and thyroid hormones has been extensively investigated and, although this transformation is better understood, there remain areas of incomplete comprehension. The sulfonation of catecholamines is a prevalent modification that has been extensively studied but, unfortunately, remains poorly understood. The sulfonation of pituitary glycoprotein hormones, especially LH and TSH, does not affect binding to their cognate receptors; however, sulfonation does play an important role in their plasma clearance, which indirectly has a significant effect on biological activity. On the other hand, the sulfonation of distinct neuroendocrine peptides does have a profound influence on receptor binding and, thus, a direct effect on biological activity. The sulfonation of specific extracellular structures plays an essential role in the binding and signaling of a large family of extracellular growth factors. In summary, sulfonation is a ubiquitous posttranslational modification of hormones and extracellular components that can lead to dramatic structural changes in affected molecules, the biological significance of which is now beginning to be appreciated.
Article
The aglycone forms of three steroidal glycoalkaloids-solanidine (derived by hydrolytic removal of the carbohydrate side chain from the potato glycoalkaloids alpha-chaconine and alpha-solanine), solasodine (derived from solasonine in eggplants) and tomatidine (derived from alpha-tomatine in tomatoes)-were evaluated for their effects on liver weight increase (hepatomegaly) in non-pregnant and pregnant mice and on fecundity in pregnant mice fed for 14 days on a diet containing 2.4 mmol/kg of aglycone. In non-pregnant mice, observed ratios of % liver weights to body weights (%LW/BWs) were significantly greater than those of the control values as follows (all values in % vs matched controls+/-S.D.): solanidine, 25.5+/-13.2; solasodine 16.8+/-12.0; and tomatidine, 6.0+/-7.1. The corresponding increases in pregnant mice were: solanidine, 5.3+/-10.7; solasodine, 33.1+/-15.1; tomatidine, 8.4+/-9.1. For pregnant mice (a) body weight gains were less with the algycones than with controls: solanidine, -36.1+/-14.5; solasodine, -17.9+/-14.3; tomatidine, -11.9+/-18.1; (b) litter weights were less than controls: solanidine, -27.0+/-17.1; solasodine, -15.5+/-16.8; tomatidine, no difference; (c) the %LTW/BW ratio was less than that of the controls and was significant only for solasodine, -8.7+/-13.7; and (d) the average weight of the fetuses was less than the controls: solanidine, -11.2+/-15.2; solasodine, -11.4+/-9.4; tomatidine, no difference. Abortion of fetuses occurred in five of 24 pregnant mice on the solanidine and none on the other diets. To obtain evidence for possible mechanisms of the observed in vivo effects, the four glycoalkaloids (alpha-chaconine, alpha-solanine, solasonine and alpha-tomatine) mentioned above and the aglycones solanidine and tomatidine were also evaluated in in vitro assays for estrogenic activity. Only solanidine at 10 microM concentration exhibited an increase in the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell proliferation assay. Generally, the biological effects of solanidine differ from those of the parent potato glycoalkaloids. Possible mechanisms of these effects and the implication of the results for food safety and plant physiology are discussed.
Article
As part of an effort to improve plant-derived foods such as potatoes, eggplants, and tomatoes, the antiproliferative activities against human colon (HT29) and liver (HepG2) cancer cells of a series of structurally related individual compounds were examined using a microculture tetrazolium (MTT) assay. The objective was to assess the roles of the carbohydrate side chain and aglycon part of Solanum glycosides in influencing inhibitory activities of these compounds. Evaluations were carried out with four concentrations each (0.1, 1, 10, and 100 microg/mL) of the the potato trisaccharide glycoalkaloids alpha-chaconine and alpha-solanine; the disaccharides beta(1)-chaconine, beta(2)-chaconine, and beta(2)-solanine; the monosaccharide gamma-chaconine and their common aglycon solanidine; the tetrasaccharide potato glycoalkaloid dehydrocommersonine; the potato aglycon demissidine; the tetrasaccharide tomato glycoalkaloid alpha-tomatine, the trisaccharide beta(1)-tomatine, the disaccharide gamma-tomatine, the monosaccharide delta-tomatine, and their common aglycon tomatidine; the eggplant glycoalkaloids solamargine and solasonine and their common aglycon solasodine; and the nonsteroidal alkaloid jervine. All compounds were active in the assay, with the glycoalkaloids being the most active and the hydrolysis products less so. The effectiveness against the liver cells was greater than against the colon cells. Potencies of alpha-tomatine and alpha-chaconine at a concentration of 1 microg/mL against the liver carcinoma cells were higher than those observed with the anticancer drugs doxorubicin and camptothecin. Because alpha-chaconine, alpha-solanine, and alpha-tomatine also inhibited normal human liver HeLa (Chang) cells, safety considerations should guide the use of these compounds as preventative or therapeutic treatments against carcinomas.
Article
Methods were devised for the isolation of large amounts of pure alpha-chaconine and alpha-solanine from Dejima potatoes and for the extraction and analysis of total glycoalkaloids from five fresh potato varieties (Dejima, Jowon, Sumi, Toya, and Vora Valley). These compounds were then evaluated in experiments using a tetrazolium microculture (MTT) assay to assess the anticarcinogenic effects of (a) the isolated pure glycoalkaloids separately, (b) artificial mixtures of the two glycoalkaloids, and (c) the total glycoalkaloids isolated from each of the five potato varieties. All samples tested reduced the numbers of the following human cell lines: cervical (HeLa), liver (HepG2), lymphoma (U937), stomach (AGS and KATO III) cancer cells and normal liver (Chang) cells. The results show that (a) the effects of the glycoalkaloids were concentration dependent in the range of 0.1-10 mug/mL (0.117-11.7 nmol/mL); (b) alpha-chaconine was more active than was alpha-solanine; (c) some mixtures exhibited synergistic effects, whereas other produced additive ones; (d) the different cancer cells varied in their susceptibilities to destruction; and (e) the destruction of normal liver cells was generally lower than that of cancer liver cells. The decreases in cell populations were also observed visually by reversed-phase microscopy. The results complement related observations on the anticarcinogenic potential of food ingredients.
Article
Disruption of epithelial barrier integrity is important in the initiation and cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Glycoalkaloids, solanine (S), and chaconine (C) are naturally present in potatoes, can permeabilize cholesterol-containing membranes, and lead to disruption of epithelial barrier integrity. Frying potatoes concentrates glycoalkaloids. Interestingly, the prevalence of IBD is highest in countries where fried potatoes consumption is highest. To further understand the role of potato glycoalkaloids on intestinal barrier integrity, we examined the effect of varying concentrations of solanine and chaconine on intestinal permeability and function. Solanine (0-50 microM), chaconine (0-20 microM), or a 1:1 mixture (0-20 microM) were exposed to T84 cultured epithelial monolayers for varying periods of time to determine concentration response effect on epithelial permeability. Next, a 1:1 mixture (5 microM) of solanine-to-chaconine (C:S) was exposed to sheets of normal murine small intestine, mounted in Ussing chambers, from control and interleukin-10 gene-deficient mice to determine whether glycoalkaloids affected intestine from mice with a genetic predisposition for IBD greater than controls. Finally, the effects of glycoalkaloids on colonic histologic injury were examined in mice orally fed amounts of glycoalkaloids that would normally be consumed in a human diet. Glycoalkaloids embedded and permeabilized the T84 monolayer epithelial membrane bilayer in a concentration-dependent fashion, with C:S > C > S. In vitro Ussing chamber experiments also illustrated a concentration-dependent disruption of intestinal barrier integrity in animals with a genetic predisposition to develop IBD, but not in control animals. Similarly, in vivo oral feeding experiments demonstrated that C:S ingestion, at physiologic concentrations, aggravated histologic colonic injury in mice genetically predisposed to developing IBD. Concentrations of glycoalkaloids normally available while eating potatoes can adversely affect the mammalian intestine and can aggravate IBD.
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