Joined: 3/28/2012
Posts: 13
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Popcorn ingredient found to be linked with Alzheimer's
Published August 08, 2012
FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/08/08/popcorn-ingredient-found-to-be-linked-with-alzheimer/
Wikipedia: Diacetyl
(IUPAC systematic name: butanedione or 2,3-butanedione) is a natural byproduct
of fermentation. It is a vicinal diketone (two C groups, side-by-side) with
the molecular formula C4H6O2. Diacetyl occurs naturally in alcoholic beverages
and is added to some foods to impart a buttery flavor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacetyl
The Butter Flavorant, Diacetyl, Exacerbates β-Amyloid
Cytotoxicity.
More SS, Vartak AP, Vince R.
Chem Res Toxicol. 2012 Jul 6. [Epub ahead of print]
Source: Center for Drug Design, Academic Health Center,
University of Minnesota , 308 Harvard Street SE, 8-123A WDH, Minneapolis,
Minnesota 55455, United States.
Abstract
Diacetyl (DA), an ubiquitous butter-flavoring agent, was
found to influence several aspects of amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation-one of the two
primary pathologies associated with Alzheimer's disease... DA easily traversed through
a MDR1-MDCK cell monolayer, an in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier.
Additionally, DA was found not only to be resistant to but also inhibitory
toward glyoxalase I, the primary initiator of detoxification of
amyloid-promoting reactive dicarbonyl species that are generated naturally in
large amounts by neuronal tissue. In light of the chronic exposure of industry
workers to DA, this study raises the troubling possibility of long-term
neurological toxicity mediated by DA.
PMID: 22731744 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22731744
[Search Internet on “diacetyl” and “peroxynitrate”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20923167,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18361509,
peroxynitrates noted in references to Aroma Therapy, essential oils, etc.]
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Joined: 12/6/2011
Posts: 3326
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Thanks, Swarfmaker. Here's another article:
(Source: WebMD) The flavorant that adds buttery taste to foods and a smooth feel to beverages may also trigger Alzheimer's disease, new studies suggest.
The flavorant, diacetyl, already is linked to lung damage in people who work in microwave popcorn factories. This led many microwave popcorn makers to stop using diacetyl in their products. But now other workers exposed to diacetyl -- and possibly consumers as well -- may face another scary risk.
University of Minnesota drug-design expert Robert Vince, PhD, and colleagues find that diacetyl causes brain proteins to misfold into the Alzheimer's-linked form called beta amyloid. Moreover, the popcorn butter flavorant can pass through the blood-brain barrier and can inhibit the brain's natural amyloid-clearing mechanisms.
Go to full story: http://www.webmd.com
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Joined: 12/12/2011
Posts: 5174
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This one has taken me awhile to understand. Diacetyl inhibits myosin which along with actin help activate a pathway (phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase) that protects against Alzheimer's disease by reducing the formation of amyloid plaques and peroxynitrites. Other factors that inhibit the PI3 kinase pathway are presenilin gene mutations, the APOE4 gene, and bisphosphonate osteoporosis drugs such as Fosamax--which are all risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. Peroxynitrites in turn further inhibit this pathway leading to more plaques and more peroxynitrites.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/emmm.201200243/full
To understand this disease does not require a genuis (lucky for me). Since the mid-1990s, it has been known that peroxynitrite-mediated damage is widespread in Alzheimer's disease. Knowledge of peroxynitrite scavengers also has existed since around that time. And everyone of these scavengers had ameliorated Alzheimer's disease in animal models and in human beings. Those peroxynitrite scavengers that reach the brain in sufficient quantity not only stop the progression of the disease by scavenging peroxynitrites and increasing the clearance of amyloid plaques (which aggregate because of peroxynitrite-mediated nitration of tyrosine within those plaques), but also partially reverses the disease by partially reversing peroxynitrite-mediated oxidation and nitration of critical proteins and receptors in the brain.
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