Contents 24 Teratogens

Caffeine, which is present in coffee, tea, cocoa and cola, but also in various over-the-counter medications, has been shown to be clearly teratogenic in rats in doses comparable to those ingested daily by many people (refs. 30, 47, 55). Vest et al. (ref. 47) found that a dose as small as 5 mg/kg caffeine (comparable to the content of 4 cups of coffee) administered on gestational days 3-19 in the rat, affected not only physical development (e.g. delayed incisor eruption in males and females, vaginal opening in females, slower growing body weight) but also development of the auditory startle reflex, food and water intake, passive and active avoidance at adult age. 

The effects of light47 and of mechanical injury48 on the glycoalkaloid content of potatoes have been studied. Solasodine has been shown to possess teratogenic properties.49... 

Feeding Conium maculatum to pregnant gilts led to newborn pigs with a high incidence of cleft palate. Analysis of the alkaloid content of plant samples determined that y-coniceine (162) was the responsible alkaloid. Thus, 162, like 160, is teratogenic in livestock [435]. 

There exist no indications of adverse zinc effects on reproduction, embryotoxicity, and teratogenic actions in maternal nontoxic doses. The dithiocarbamates Ziram and Zineb have been shown, in lower dosage, to have adverse effects on reproduction, but this is not considered due to their zinc content (NRC 1979, Stokinger 1981). 

Although H. A lowers the glucose content in blood it has practically no effect on the aerobic catabolism of acetate and glucose. In contrast, it blocks the formation of CO2 from fatty acids presumably by inhibiting the enzymes of / oxidation. H. A has teratogenic activity in rats. ... 

Numeroits diverse compoimds have been shown to mediate developmental toxicity by altering maternal and embryo/fetal zinc metabolism. For example, the saponin, a-hed-erirt, which is a component of oriental herbs used to treat hepatitis and infectious diseases, has been shown to induce maternal liver MT and zinc concentrations and result in decreased embryonic zinc, and increased malformations. Using an oral dose of the radioactive isotope Zn, Duffy and coworkers showed that the tissue distribution of Zn reflected the increase in hepatic MT. When rat embryos were cirltured in serum taken from rats two hours after a-hederin treatment (e.g. before the increase in maternal hver MT production), embryo development was normal. In contrast, embryos cultured in serum taken from rats 18 hours after a-hederin treatment (e.g., peak MT production) developed multiple abnormalities. The addition of zinc to the 18-hoirr post-a-hederin treated serum resulted in normal embryonic development indicating that the low zinc content of the serum was directly responsible for the a-hederin-induced teratogenicity. 

Finally, another aspect of uranium toxicity must also be addressed, which is the teratogenic effect, that is, disturbing the proper growth and development of an embryo or fetus. This is a point of contention between the opponents of the use of DU munitions that attribute horrendous deformities in children whose parents were exposed to DU fragments or dust (HRN 2013) and other scientists who dispute these conclusions (Sztajnkrycer and Otten 2004). The dispute about the health effects of exposure to DU is discussed in Frame 4.2. 

The total QAs content is only a crude indicator and it is not enough to induce whether a particular lupin is fit for direct use in human nutrition. In fact it is important to know the content of particular alkaloids such as anagyrine (Fig. 14.8), cytisine (Fig. 14.8), and ammodendrine (Fig. 14.9). Anagyrine and cytisine are a-pyridone alkaloids, whereas ammodendrine is a piperidine alkaloid. They are usually extracted and analyzed with quinolizidine ones. All of them have shown teratogenic activity (see Sect. 4) [8]. 

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