Name: Zully Cuenca

Date: 7/10/18

1. Identify a food that you consume frequently in your diet. Investigate if this food has a natural
substance or substances that could be potentially toxic for your organism. Finally, explain how the
mechanism of action work.

The food that I frequently consume in my diet is potato. According scientific papers, it has two major
glycoalkaloids components: the α-chaconine and α-solanine which are biologically active secondary plant
metabolites (1). They have toxic effects for humans that eat green potatoes with high concentrations
causing poisoning symptoms include headache, vomiting, and diarrhea and neurological symptoms as
apathy, restlessness and mental confusion (2). Doses of 3-6 mg total glycoalkaloid/kg body weight can be
lethal and mild poisoning occurs with doses of 1-5 mg/kg body weight (2). In potato, the glycoalkaloids
are concentrated in the skin of the immature tuber. The exposure to extreme temperatures, artificial light
and sunlight promotes their formation under the surface (2). Their mechanism of action is the inhibition
of cholinesterase enzymes: butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), that is found in the lungs and liver, and
acetylcholinesterase (AChE), that is required to hydrolyse and disactivate the neurotransmitter
acetylcholine (3).

2. Choose a diet trend and investigate how it can affect health and possible toxic effects.

The Dukan diet, developed by Pierre Dukan, is considered a good method to lose weight. It is a high-
protein diet and has four stages: attack, cruise, consolidation and stabilization (4). During the first stage,
individual needs to eat exclusively protein sources for seven days. For the rest of stages, you also need to
eat more protein than carbohydrates and this causes the body to use lipid reserves and it increases ketone
levels. Therefore, the individual enters a state of ketoacidosis (low levels of pH in blood) that can be fatal
if the person has diabetes (5). Also, in this diet you can eat the protein that you want, but the high
consumption of red met increases levels of uric acid that cause gout disease. It even affects the kidneys
because they are responsible for eliminating it (6). Both situations are toxic for the body.
References

1. Karaboğa Arslan, A., & Yerer, M. (2018). α-Chaconine and α-Solanine Inhibit RL95-2 Endometrium
Cancer Cell Proliferation by Reducing Expression of Akt (Ser473) and ERα (Ser167). Nutrients, 10(6), 672.
doi: 10.3390/nu10060672

2. Milner, S., Brunton, N., Jones, P., O’ Brien, N., Collins, S., & Maguire, A. (2011). Bioactivities of
Glycoalkaloids and Their Aglycones from Solanum Species. Journal Of Agricultural And Food
Chemistry, 59(8), 3454-3484. doi: 10.1021/jf200439q

3. Rietjens, I., Martena, M., Boersma, M., Spiegelenberg, W., & Alink, G. (2005). Molecular mechanisms of
toxicity of important food-borne phytotoxins. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 49(2), 131-158. doi:
10.1002/mnfr.200400078

4. Dukan, P. (2018). Las 4 fases. Retrieved from http://www.dietadukan.es/metodo-

dukan/presentacion/las-4-fases

5. Diabetes Education Online. (2018). Retrieved from https://dtc.ucsf.edu/es/tipos-de-diabetes/diabetes-

tipo-2/comprension-de-la-diabetes-tipo-2/como-procesa-el-azucar-el-cuerpo/cetonas/

6. Tsai, C., Lin, S., Kuo, C., & Huang, C. (2017). Serum Uric Acid and Progression of Kidney Disease: A
Longitudinal Analysis and Mini-Review. PLOS ONE, 12(1), e0170393. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170393