Prakash A S, Pereira T N, Reilly P E, Seawright A A
National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, 39, Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia.
Mutat Res. 1999 Jul 15;443(1-2):53-67. doi: 10.1016/s1383-5742(99)00010-1.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are the leading plant toxins associated with disease in humans and animals. Upon ingestion, metabolic activation in liver converts the parent compounds into highly reactive electrophiles capable of reacting with cellular macromolecules forming adducts which may initiate acute or chronic toxicity. The pyrrolizidine alkaloids present a serious health risk to human populations that may be exposed to them through contamination of foodstuffs or when plants containing them are consumed as medicinal herbs. Some pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) adducts are persistent in animal tissue and the metabolites may be re-released and cause damage long after the initial period of ingestion. PAs are also known to act as teratogens and abortifacients. Chronic ingestion of plants containing PAs has also led to cancer in experimental animals and metabolites of several PAs have been shown to be mutagenic in the Salmonella typhimurium/mammalian microsome system. However, no clinical association has yet been found between human cancer and exposure to PAs. Based on the extensive reports on the outcome of human exposure available in the literature, we conclude that while humans face the risk of veno-occlusive disease and childhood cirrhosis PAs are not carcinogenic to humans.
吡咯里西啶生物碱是与人类和动物疾病相关的主要植物毒素。摄入后，肝脏中的代谢活化将母体化合物转化为具有高反应活性的亲电试剂，这些亲电试剂能够与细胞大分子反应形成加合物，从而引发急性或慢性毒性。吡咯里西啶生物碱对人群构成严重的健康风险，人们可能通过食品污染或食用含有它们的植物作为草药而接触到这些毒素。一些吡咯里西啶生物碱（PA）加合物在动物组织中具有持久性，其代谢产物可能在最初摄入期很久之后重新释放并造成损害。已知PA还具有致畸和堕胎作用。长期摄入含有PA的植物也会导致实验动物患癌症，并且几种PA的代谢产物已被证明在鼠伤寒沙门氏菌/哺乳动物微粒体系统中具有致突变性。然而，尚未发现人类癌症与接触PA之间存在临床关联。根据文献中关于人类接触结果的大量报告，我们得出结论，虽然人类面临静脉闭塞性疾病和儿童肝硬化的风险，但PA对人类不具有致癌性。
