Diacetyl chemical in artificial butter popcorn linked to Alzheimer's plaque build-up
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(CBS News) An ingredient used in artificial butter flavoring for popcorn may worsen the effects of an abnormal brain protein that's been linked to Alzheimer's disease.
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A new study in Chemical Research in Toxicology examined diacetyl (DA), an ingredient used to produce the buttery flavor and smell in microwave popcorn, margarine, candy, baked goods, and even pet food. It is also created naturally in fermented drinks like beer, and gives some chardonnay wines its buttery taste, according to the study.
Scientists at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis conducted an analysis of DA, a chemical which previously has been linked to respiratory problems in employees at microwave popcorn and food-flavoring factories.
They found that DA has a structure that's similar to a substance that makes beta-amyloid proteins. Too much amyloid that clumps together to form plaques are a tell-tale marker of Alzheimer's disease in the brain. The researchers wanted to see whether DA would clump those proteins in a similar fashion to form plaques.
They found DA did lead to an increase in levels of beta-amyloid clumping, leading to toxic effects on nerve cells the scientists grew in a laboratory. The experiments also showed that DA easily penetrated the blood-brain barrier, a layer of cells that is supposed to keep harmful substances from entering the brain but allows other helpful materials to cross. The chemical was also found to mitigate the effects of glyoxalase I, a protein that protects nerve cells.
The study however did not show a cause and effect relationship between the chemical and Alzheimer's, and the results haven't been replicated in people, only in test tubes.
"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," the researchers, led by Dr. Robert Vince, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Drug Design, said in a written statement.
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WHY would anyone want to take the chance!!!????????
STOP EATING THESE POISONS, ESPECIALLY RIGHT FROM A MICROWAVE OVEN!!!
But you go on and keep solving the worlds problems so we have someone to chuckle at.
As the director of the Alzheimer's Research Association, we get so many of our members who get so involved in stories like this, they become concerned or they want the next big thing in a cure. We already have received so many e mails on this subject its ridicules. There is absolutely no evidence, of what this article says about the butter in popcorn being a "cause" of Alzheimer's. This study has not been done to achieve that goal. Everyone needs to take a step back.
This study says:
Researchers have determined that diacetyl "has an architecture "similar" to a substance that makes beta-amyloid proteins clump together in the brain," and that this clumping "is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease."
The key word in this article is "SIMILAR" not exact. We all need to take these stories with a grain of salt, and wait until the evidence shows more conclusive results.
Joe Lucido
Director
Alzheimer's Research Association
www.alzra.org
Molecular similarity is NOT a link. Please restate.
"Whether toxic levels of DA are achieved in
various body compartments upon mere (over)consumption of
DA-containing food substances is an unanswered but an
important question."
"Due caution must, however, be exercised while extrapolating the results of this study to phenomenon in the intact animal. Although the in vitro data in this study show toxicity of DA at concentrations actually recorded physiologically, extension of this toxicity in the in vivo environment is influenced by a plethora of factors ranging from transport across compartments to its possible metabolism of DA by dicarbonyl reductases."
These were in-vitro studies. These were not even rat studies. Does anyone realize how few animal studies, let alone in-vitro, translate into true real-world human results? The authors of the research recognize this. It's too bad the "news" writers and many readers don't.
Like they say don't eat anything with a label, except humans, they are so toxic that they should be buried in a drum with concrete in a mine somewhere.
Alzheimer also has an up side, no more reruns on TV, no more politicians broken promises, no more unfulfilled hopes and dreams, no more worries about paying bills. Oblivion looks pretty sweat sometimes.
Wait a minute, are there people out there with the idea of deliberately causing or worsening Alzheimer's disease in humans just to prove a point???
Mengele would be proud.
How low are the standards for journalism these days?! Something has to change.