Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Dietary Neurotoxins

  • Chapter
Diet — Brain Connections

  • 283 Accesses

Abstract

Consumption of food or beverages can in some cases lead to intoxication and disease. Such food-induced intoxication may be caused by microbial toxins, by toxic substances naturally occurring in some foods, or as a result of contaminants or residues of various kind. Some of these agents have neurotoxic properties and may contribute to the etiology of certain psychiatric disorders or neurodegenerative diseases. This chapter focuses on a selected number of “dietary neurotoxins”, i.e. compounds that naturally, or a result of human intervention, find their way into food or beverages, and have been associated with neurotoxic outcomes in humans. Such compounds include domoic acid, a phycotoxin associated with amnesic shellfish poisoning; isoquinolines, carbolines and several pesticides (paraquat, maneb, dieldrin, rotenone), which have been suggested to play a role in the etiology of Parkinson’s disease; β-N-oxylamino-L-alanine, thought to be responsible for neurolathyrism; and two alcohols, methanol and ethanol, which can cause severe neurotoxic effects in adults and the developing fetus.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barbeau A, Roy M, Bernier G, Campanella G & Paris S. 1987. Ecogenetics of Parkinson’s disease: prevalence and environmental aspects in rural areas. Can. J. Neurol. Sci. 14: 36–41.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Betarbet R, Sherer TB, MacKenzie G, Garcia-Osuna M, Panov AV & Greenamyre JT. 2000. Chronic systemic pesticide exposure reproduces features of Parkinson’s disease. Nature Neurosci. 3: 1301–1306.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brust JCM. 2000. Ethanol In: Experimental and Clinical Neurotoxicology (Spencer PS & Schaumburg HH, eds.), Oxford University Press, New York, pp.541–557.

    Google Scholar 

  • Candura SM, Manzo L & Costa LG. 1998. Role of occupational neurotoxicants in psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. In: Occupational Neurotoxicology. (Costa LG & Manzo L. eds.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 131–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caparros-Levebre D, Elbaz A & The Caribbean Parkinsonism Study Group. 1999. Possible relation of atypical parkinsonism in the French West Indies with consumption of tropical plants: a case-control study. Lancet 354: 281–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caparros-Levebre D. 2001. Dopa-resistant parkinsonism in Guadeloupe and possible relation with the toxicity of isoquinoline derivatives. Mov. Dis. 16: 394–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cashman NR & Cendes F. 2000. Domoic acid. In: Experimental and Clinical Neurotoxicology (Spencer PS & Schaumburg HH, eds.), Oxford University Press, New York, pp.518–520.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cendes F, Andermann, F, Carpenter S, Zatorre RJ & Cashman NR. 1995. Temporal lobe epilepsy caused by domoic acid intoxication: evidence for glutamate receptor-mediated excitotoxicity in humans. Ann. Neurol. 37: 123–126.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Charness ME, Simon RP & Greenberg DA. 1989. Medical progress: ethanol and the nervous system. N. Engl. J. Med. 321: 442–454.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Checkoway H, Farin FM, Costa-Mallen P, Kirchner SC & Costa LG. 1998. Genetic polymorphisms in Parkinson’s disease. Neurotoxicology 19: 635–644.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chun HS, Gibson GE, DeGiorgio LA, Zhang H, Kidd VJ & Son JH. 2001. Dopaminergic cell death induced by MPP+, oxidant and specific neurotoxicants shares the common molecular mechanism. J. Neurochem. 76: 1010–1021.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corasaniti MT, DeFilippo R, Nappi G & Nistico G. 1991. Evidence that paraquat is able to cross the blood-brain barrier to a different extent in rats of various ages. Funct. Neurol. 6: 385–391.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corrigan FM, Wienburg CL, Shore RF, Daniel SE & Mann D. 2000. Organochlorine insecticides in substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease. J. Toxicol. Env. Health Part A 59: 229–234.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corsini GU, Pintus S, Chiveh CC, Weiss JF & Kopin IJ. 1985. 2-Methyl-4-phenyl-l,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) neurotoxicity in mice is enhanced by pretreatment with diethyldithiocarbamate. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 119: 127–128.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Costa LG. 1997. Basic toxicology of pesticides. Occup. Med. State. Art. Rev. 12: 251–268.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Crews FT. 2000. Neurotoxicity of alcohol: excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, neurotrophic factors, apoptosis and cell adhesion molecules. In: Review of NIAAA’s neuroscience did behavioral research portfolio. (Noronho A, Echardt M & Warren K. eds.), U.S. Dept. of HHS, Bethesda, MD, pp. 189–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson R, Beal MF, Boudy SC, DiMonte DA & Isom GE, 1995. Excitotoxins, aging and environmental neurotoxins: implications for understanding human neurodegenerative diseases. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 134: 1–17.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Debonnel G, Beauchesne L & de Montigny C. 1989. Domoic acid, the alleged “mussel toxin”, might produce its neurotoxic effects through kainate receptor activation: an electrophysiological study in the rat dorsal hippocampus. Can. J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 67: 29–33.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fadda F & Rossetti ZL. 1998. Chronic ethanol consumption: from neuroadaptation to neurodegeneration. Prog. Neurobiol. 56: 385–431.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ferraz HB, Bertolucci PHF, Pereira JS, Lima JGC & Andrade LAF. 1988. Chronic exposure to the fungicide maneb produce symptoms and signs of CNS manganese intoxication. Neurology 38: 550–553.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming L, Mann JB, Bean J, Briggle T, & Sanchez-Ramos JR. 1994. Parkinson’s disease and brain levels of organochlorine pesticides. Ann. Neurol. 36: 100–103.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ford MD & McMartin K. 1991. Ethylene glycol and methanol. In: Clinical Toxicology (Ford MD, Delaney KA, Ling LJ & Erickson T. eds.), W.B. Saunders, Co., Philadelphia, pp.757–767.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goedert M. 2001. Alpha-synuclein and neurogenerative diseases. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 2:492–501.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grunow W. 1999. Food: compound-related aspects. In: Toxicology (Marquardt H, Schäfer SG, McClellan RO & Welsh F. eds.), Academic Press, San Diego, pp.1103–1113.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Guerri C, Pascual M & Renau-Piqueras J. 2001. Glia and fetal alcohol syndrome. Neurotoxicology (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Guizzetti M, Catlin M & Costa LG. 1997. Effects of ethanol on glial cell proliferation: relevance to the fetal alcohol syndrome. Front. Biosci. 2: e95–e98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper C. 1998. The neuropathology of alcohol-specific brain damage, or does alcohol damage the brain? J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol. 57: 101–110.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heikkila RE, Nicklas WJ, Vyas I & Duvoisin RC. 1985. Dopaminergic toxicity of rotenone and the 2-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion after their stereotaxic administration to rats: implications for the mechanism of l-methyl-4-phenyl-l,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine toxicity. Neurosci. Lett. 62: 389–394.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Henneberry R, & Spat L. 1991. The role of environmental factors in neurodegenerative disorders. Neurobiol. Aging 12: 75–79.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hugon J, Ludolph AC & Spencer PS. 2000. β-N-Oxalylamino-L-Alanine. In: Experimental and Clinical Neurotoxicology (Spencer PS, Schaumburg HH eds), Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 925–938.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikonomidou C, Bittijan P,Ishimasu MJ, Woznick DF, Koch C, Gent K, Price MT, Stefavsko V. Morster F, Tenkova T, Dikranian K & Olney JW. 2000. Ethanol-induced apoptotic neurodegeneration and fetal alcohol syndrome. Science 287: 1056–1060.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirby ML, Barlow RL & Bloomquist JR. 2001. Neurotoxicity of the organochlorine insecticide heptachlor to immune striatal dopaminergic pathways. Toxicol. Sei. 61: 100–106.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koller WC. 1986. Paraquat and Parkinson’s disease. Neurology 36: 1147.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Künig G, Hartman J. Niedermeyer B, Deckert J, Ramsmayr G. Heinsen H, Beckmann H. & Riederer P. 1994. Excitotoxins L-beta-oxalyl-amino-alanine (L-BOAA) and 3,4,6-trihydroxyphenylalanine (6-OH-DOPA) inhibit [3H] alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5 methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA) binding in human hippocampus. Neurosci. Lett. 169: 219–222.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liesivuori J & Savolainen M. 1991. Methanol and formic acid toxicity: biochemical mechanisms. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 69: 157–163.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liou HH, Chen RC, Tsai YF, Chen WP, Chang YC & Tsai MC. 1996. Effects of paraquat on the substantia nigra of the Wistar rats: neurochemical, histological and behavioral studies. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 137: 34–41.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lockwood AH. 2000. Pesticides and Parkinsonism: is there an etiological link? Curr. Op. Neurol. 13: 687–690.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ludolph AC. 2000. Methanol. In: Experimental and Clinical Neurotoxicology (Spencer PS & Schaumburg HH. eds.), Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 773–780.

    Google Scholar 

  • Makino Y, Ohta S, Tachinkawa O. & Hirobe M. 1988. Presence of tetrahydisisoquinoline and 1-methyl-tetrahydroisoquinoline in foods: compounds related to Parkinson’s disease. Life Sci. 43: 373–378.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Melchior C & Collins MA. 1982. The route and significance of endogenous synthesis of alkaloids in animals. Crit. Rev. Toxicol. 9: 313–356.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Menegon A, Board PG, Blackburn AC, Mellick GD & Le Coutier DG. 1998. Parkinson’s disease, pesticides and glutathione transferase polymorphisms. Lancet 352: 1344–1346.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller MW. 1995. Generation of neurons in the rat dentate gyrus and hippocampus: effect of prenatal and postnatal treatment with ethanol. Alcoh. Clin. Exp. Res. 19: 1500–1509.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mos L. 2001. Domoic acid: a fascinating, marine toxin. Env. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 9: 79–85.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Murti VVS, Seshadri TR & Venkitasubramanian TA. 1964. Neurotoxic compounds of the seeds of Lathyrus sativus. Phytochemistry 3:73–77.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nagatsu T. 1997. Isoquinoline neurotoxins in the brain and Parkinson’s Disease. Neurosci. Res. 29:99–111.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naoi M, Maruyama W, Niwa T & Nagatsu T. 1994. Novel toxins and Parkinson’s disease: N-methylation and oxidation as metabolic activation of neurotoxin. J. Neural. Transm. 41(Suppl): 197–205.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naylor JL, Widdowson PS, Simpson MG, Farnsworth M, Ellis MK & Lock EA. 1995. Further evidence that the blood/brain barrier impedes paraquat entry into the brain. Human Exp. Toxicol. 14: 587–594.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • NCR (National Research Council). 1993. Pesticides in the diets of infants and children. National Academy Press, Washington D.C., pp. 386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niwa T, Takado N, Kaneda N, Hashizumi Y & Nagatsu T. 1987. Presence of tetrahydroisoquinoline and 2-methyl-tetrahydroisoquinoline in parkinsonian and normal human brains. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 144: 1084–1089.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Niwa T, Yoshizuma H, Tatematsu A, Matsuura S & Nagatsu T. 1989. Presence of tetrahydroisoquinoline, a parkinsonism-related compound, in foods. J. Chromat. 493: 347–352.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ohta S, Tachikawa O, Makino Y, Tasaki Y & Hirobe M. 1990. Metabolism and brain accumulation of tetrahydroisoquinoline (TIQ), a possible parkinsonism inducing substance, in an animal model of poor debrisoquine metabolizer. Life Sci. 46: 599–605.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Otten EJ, Prybys KM & Gesell LB. 2001. Ethanol. In: Clinical Toxicology. (Ford MD, Delaney DA, Ling LJ & Erickson T, eds), W.B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, pp. 605–612.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perl TM, Bedard L, Kosatsky T, Hockin JC, Todd ECD & Remis RS. 1990. An outbreak of toxic encephalopathy caused by eating mussels contaminated with domoic acid. N. Engl. J. Med. 322: 1771–1780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polymeropoulos MH, Lavedan C, Leroy E. et al. 1997. Mutation in the α-synuclein gene identified in families with Parkinson’s disease. Science 276: 2045–2047.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Priyadarshi A, Khuder SA, Schaub EA & Priyadarshi SS. 2001. Environmental risk factors and Parkinson’s disease: a metaanalysis. Env. Res. Sect. A 86: 122–127.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy CS & Hayes AW. 2001. Food-borne toxicants. In: Principles and Methods in Toxicology (Hayes WA, ed.), Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia, pp. 491–530.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samson HH. 1986. Microencephaly and fetal alcohol syndrome: human and animal studies. In: Alcohol and Brain Development (West JR. ed), Oxford Press, Oxford, pp. 167–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer PS, Ludolph AL, Duivedi MP, Roy DN, Hugon J & Schaumburg HH. 1986. Lathyrism: evidence for role of the neuroexcitatory amino acid BOAA. Lancet ii: 1066–1067.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer PS. 1999. Food toxins, AMPA receptors and motor neuron diseases. Drug Metab. Rev. 31: 561–587

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Spillantini MG, Schmidt ML, Trojanowski JQ, Jakes R & Goedert M. 1997. Alpha-synuclein in Lewy bodies. Nature 388: 839–840.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Spohr ML, Williams J & Steinhausen HC. 1993. Prenatal alcohol exposure and long term developmental consequences. Lancet 341: 907–910.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart GR, Zorumski CF, Price MT & Olney JW. 1990. Domoic acid a dementia-inducing excitotoxic food poison with domoic acid receptor specificity. Exp. Neurol. 110: 127–138.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stratton K, Howe C & Battaglia F (eds). 1996. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Diagnosis, Epidemiology, Prevention and Treatment. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Streissguth AP, Aase IM, Clarren SK, Randeis SP, LaDue LA & Smith DS. 1991. Fetal alcohol syndrome in adolescents and adults. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 265: 1961–1967.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Streissguth AP, Landesman-Dwyer S, Martin JC & Smith DW. 1980. Teratogenic effects of alcohol in human and laboratory animals. Science 209: 353–361.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland RJ, Hoesing JM & Whishaw IQ. 1990. Domoic acid, an environmental toxin, produces hippocampal damage and severe memory impairment. Neurosci. Lett. 120: 221–223.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Teitelbaum JS, Zatorre RJ, Carpenter S, Gendron D, Evans AC, Gjedde A. & Cashman NR. 1990. Neurologic sequelae of domoic acid intoxication due to the injection of contaminated mussels. N. Engl. J. Med. 322: 1781–1787.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tephly TR. 1991. The toxicology of methanol. Life Sei. 48: 1031-1041.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thiruchelvam M, Richfield EK, Baggs RB, Tank AW & Cory-Slechta DA. 2000. The nigrostriatal dopaminergic systems as a preferential target of repeated exposure to combined paraquat and maneb: implications for Parkinson’s disease. J. Neurosci. 20: 9207–9211.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tryphonas L, Truelove J, Nero E & Iverson F. 1990. Acute neurotoxicity of domoic acid in the rat. Toxicol. Pathol. 18: 1–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Uversky VN, Li J & Fink AL. 2001. Pesticides directly accelerate the rate of α-2 synuclein fibril formation: a possible factor in Parkinson’s disease. FEBS. Lett. 500: 105–108.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss B & Reuhl K. 1994. Delayed neurotoxicity: a silent toxicity. In: Principles of Neurotoxicology (Chang LW, ed.). Marcel Dekker, New York, pp. 765–784.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis CL, Meldrum PB, Nunn PB, Anderton BH & Leigh PN. 1994. Neuroprotective effect of free radical scavengers on beta-N-oxalylamino-L-alanine (BOAA)-induced neuronal damage in rat hippocampus. Neurosci. Lett. 182: 159–162.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wolters EC. 1997. Manganese-induced Parkinsonism. In: Mineral and Metal Neurotoxicology (Yasui, M, Strong MJ, Ota K & Verity MA, eds.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 319–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoshida M, Niwa T & Nagatsu T. 1990. Parkinsonism in monkeys produced by chronic administration of an endogenous substance of the brain, tetrahydroisoquinoline: the behavioral and biochemical changes. Neurosci. Lett. 119: 109–113

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zorumski CF & Olney JW. 1993. Excitotoxic damage and neuropsychiatric disorders. Pharmacol. Ther. 59: 145–162.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Lucio G. Costa, Marina Guizzetti & Paola Costa-Mallen

  2. Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Roma “La Sapienza”, Roma, Italy

    Lucio G. Costa, Annabella Vitalone & Beatrice Tita

Authors
  1. Lucio G. Costa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marina Guizzetti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Paola Costa-Mallen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Annabella Vitalone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Beatrice Tita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute on Aging, USA

    Mark P. Mattson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Costa, L.G., Guizzetti, M., Costa-Mallen, P., Vitalone, A., Tita, B. (2002). Dietary Neurotoxins. In: Mattson, M.P. (eds) Diet — Brain Connections. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1067-3_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1067-3_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5378-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1067-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics