MONDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic exposure to an artificial
butter flavoring ingredient, known as diacetyl, may worsen the harmful
effects of a protein in the brain linked to Alzheimer's disease, according
to a new study.
The findings should serve as a red flag for factory workers with
significant exposure to the food-flavoring ingredient, researchers from
the University of Minnesota said in the report published in a recent issue
of the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.
Diacetyl is used to give a buttery taste and aroma to common food items
such as margarines, snack foods, candy, baked goods, pet foods and other
products.
The investigators pointed out that previous studies have already linked
diacetyl to respiratory and other health problems among workers at
microwave popcorn and food-flavoring plants.
Although diacetyl forms naturally in fermented beverages, such as beer
and wine, its chemical structure is similar to a substance that makes
beta-amyloid proteins clump together in the brain. This clumping, the
study authors noted, is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
In their study, the researchers found that diacetyl also increases the
amount of beta-amyloid clumping in the brain. And it worsened the
beta-amyloid protein's harmful effects on nerve cells grown in a lab when
the cells were exposed to the same levels of diacetyl that factory workers
might be exposed to in their jobs.
The study authors pointed out that other experiments revealed that
diacetyl also crosses the "blood-brain barrier," which helps protect the
brain from dangerous substances. Diacetyl also prevented a beneficial
protein from protecting nerve cells.
"In light of the chronic exposure of industry workers to diacetyl, this
study raises the troubling possibility of long-term neurological toxicity
mediated by diacetyl," Robert Vince and colleagues concluded in a news
release from the American Chemical Society.
The study was funded by the Center for Drug Design research endowment
funds at the University of Minnesota.
While the study found an association between chronic diacetyl exposure
and certain brain protein processes, it did not prove a cause-and-effect
relationship.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about Alzheimer's disease.
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