Use of an in vitro digestion model to study the bioaccessibility of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal and related aldehydes present in oxidized oils rich in omega-6 acyl groups.

Mixtures of either sunflower oil or thermodegraded sunflower oil and a standard meal were submitted to an in vitro digestion model. The same experiment was carried out with fluid deep-frying fat and thermodegraded fluid deep-frying fat. The thermodegradation of the oil and fat was provoked by submitting them to 190 degrees C with aeration in a convection oven, and the presence in the headspace of the thermodegraded oil and fat of oxygenated alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes (OalphabetaUAs), such as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), 4-oxo-2-nonenal (ONE), and 4,5-epoxy-2-decenal (EDE), was monitored by solid phase microextraction (SPME) followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The digestion products were separated by centrifugation in a lipidic phase, an aqueous phase, and a pellet phase. The headspace of these three phases was also studied by SPME/GC-MS to check if the toxic and very reactive OalphabetaUAs above-mentioned remained unaltered after the in vitro digestion process or if they had reacted with the various compounds present in the digestion products, so disappearing from the samples. With the same aim the extract in ethyl acetate of the aqueous and pellet phases, and of the lipidic phase after dilution, were studied by GC-MS. All results obtained showed that a certain proportion of the toxic OalphabetaUAs remains unaltered after digestion, dispersed in the three phases above-mentioned, and thus are bioaccessible in the gastrointestinal tract and so could reach the systemic circulation. Compounds that may originate in Maillard type reactions (2-pentylpyridine) are found among digestion products, proving that these reactions are possible in this process if adequate substrates are present. In addition, it has been shown that toxic metabolites from the synthetic antioxidant BHT, present in fat before digestion, remain unaltered after this process and could reach the systemic circulation.

Potato glycoalkaloids and adverse effects in humans: an ascending dose study.

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.