Toxic Effects of Acrylamide in Potatoes

Potatoes and potatoes by-products are consumed as food by a large number of people around the globe. One of the steroidal glycoalkaloids found in potatoes, alpha-solanine (?-solanine), is naturally present and has both toxic and anticarcinogenic properties. Another potato secondary metabolite, acrylamide (AA) also known as 2-Propenamide, is found in a variety of consumer foods cooked at higher temperatures. Acrylamide has been shown to induce neurotoxic and reproductive toxic effects.

In this study, minimal doses of ?-solanine and ?-solanine and AA (?-solanine/AA) combination were used to treat BEAS-2B cells at 24 and 48 hours (h) and their effects, on the morphology of the cells, caspase-3 (CASP3), an apoptosis regulator CASP3, along with a microRNA (miRNA) known as hsa-let-7c, which regulates the mRNA of CASP3, were evaluated. Results of this study showed that combined ?-solanine/AA treatment has a profound lethal effect than ?-solanine alone in the treated cells. In addition, BEAS-2B cells treated with either ?-solanine alone or combined ?-solanine/AA for 48 h showed necrotic and apoptotic blebbing than the cells treated with ?-solanine alone for 24 h. Western blot analysis showed that cells treated with ?-solanine alone expressed CASP3, while cells treated with combined ?-solanine/AA for both 24 h and 48 h did not expressed CASP3, which is likely due to DNA damage that abrogates transcription and translation of CASP3 in the treated cells. microRNA (miRNA), hsa-let-7c is a regulator of CASP3 mRNA, was expressed in the control-untreated, ?-solanine-treated, and combined solanine/AA-treated cells. The absence of CASP3 expression in the combined ?-solanine/AA-treated cells suggests that the DNA of the CASP3 gene incurs much damages than the DNA of the hsa-let-7c gene, which is smaller.

In conclusion, minimal dose of combined ?-solanine/AA treatment at 24 h and 48 h altered the morphology of the cells, which in turn most likely causes DNA damage that inhibits CASP3 expression in the BEAS-2B cells. At 24 h and 48 h, ?-solanine alone reduced CASP3 expression in the cells compare to control-untreated cells. Further studies are needed to establish if combined ?-solanine/AA treatment will lead to DNA and/or RNA damage, which will eventually inhibit the expression of RNA and protein.

Did you like this example?

6256

261