Buttered Popcorn Flavoring Linked to Alzheimer's
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.
"Whether toxic levels of diacetyl are achieved in
various body compartments upon mere (over) consumption of diacetyl-containing
food substances is an unanswered but an important question," Vince and
colleagues note.
In laboratory experiments, Vince's team showed that at
very low concentrations, diacetyl:
Causes misfolding of amyloid into toxic beta amyloid.
Easily crosses the blood-brain barrier that keeps many
toxins from entering the brain.
Inhibits natural mechanisms that clear beta amyloid from
the brain.
So far, these effects have only been seen in test-tube
studies. More studies are needed to see if diacetyl acts the same way in living
animals.
Vince, director of the University of Minnesota Center for
Drug Design, and colleagues report their findings in the online edition of
Chemical Research in Toxicology.
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