Effect of feeding solanidine, solasodine and tomatidine to non-pregnant and pregnant mice

Abstract

The aglycone forms of three steroidal glycoalkaloids-solanidine (derived by hydrolytic removal of the carbohydrate side chain from the potato glycoalkaloids a-chaconine and a-solanine), solasodine (derived from solasonine in eggplants) and tomatidine (derived from a-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 AES.D.): solanidine, 25.5 AE13.2; solasodine 16.8 AE 12.0; and tomatidine, 6.0 AE7.1. The corresponding increases in pregnant mice were: solanidine, 5.3 AE10.7; solasodine, 33.1 AE15.1; tomatidine, 8.4 AE 9.1. For pregnant mice (a) body weight gains were less with the algycones than with controls: solanidine, À36.1 AE14.5; solasodine, À17.9 AE14.3; tomatidine, À11.9 AE18.1; (b) litter weights were less than controls: solanidine, À27.0 AE 17.1; solasodine, À15.5 AE 16.8; tomatidine, no difference; (c) the %LTW/BW ratio was less than that of the controls and was significant only for solasodine, À8.7AE 13.7; and (d) the average weight of the fetuses was less than the controls: solanidine, À11.2 AE 15.2; solasodine, À11.4 AE 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 (a-chaconine, a-solanine, solasonine and a-tomatine) mentioned above and the aglycones solanidine and tomatidine were also evaluated in in vitro assays for estrogenic activity. Only solanidine at 10 mm 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. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

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

“…Nevertheless, the strongest effects on the liver parameters are seen in the groups getting the highest dosages of solanine ( Table 5). Friedman et al (30) showed that three aglycone forms of steroidal GAs, solanidine, solasodine, and tomatidine, induced an increase in liver weight in nonpregnant and pregnant mice as opposed to the reduced liver weights induced by R-solanine and R-chaconine in the present study. Caldwell et al (31) showed that hepatic ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity in rat livers was increased up to 8 h after i.p.…”

Functional food characteristics of potato cultivars (Solanum tuberosum L.): Phytochemical composition and inhibition of 1-methyl-1-nitrosourea induced breast cancer in rats

“…One epidemiological study reported that potato consumption was associated with a reduced risk for breast cancer (Hirose et al, 1995), although a comprehensive metaanalysis of literature failed to confirm this finding (World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research, 2007). In vitro data indicate that certain chemicals characteristically found in higher levels in potatoes have either estrogenic activity or antiestrogenic effects (Denton et al, 1992;Friedman, Henika, & Mackey, 2003;Xuan et al, 2002), raising the possibility that potato could have beneficial or detrimental effects on the development of breast cancer. It was for this reason that we chose a model for breast cancer that is known to be stimulated by estrogenic activity as well as to be responsive to anti-estrogens (Welsch, 1985) because we wanted to determine if potato consumption would either enhance or inhibit the development of breast cancer.…”

Transgenic potato tubers with overexpression of 14-3-3 protein in growing rat diets. 2. Redox indices in blood and brain

“…The prooxidative activity of potatoes found in the present study may result from their relatively high content of Fe ions (Sugihara et al, 1999) or from the presence of biologically active substances, e.g. glycoalkaloids (Friedman et al, 2003). A tendency towards a higher Fe blood concentration was found in rats fed potato diets (Table 1).…”