The compound is toxic and consumption can lead to liver damage, cancer, and pyrrolizidine alkaloidosis. Because of this, consumption of plants that produce it has resulted in poisonings, both in humans and in animals.[2]
Toxicity
Like other pyrrolizidine alkaloids, senecionine is toxic when ingested. The ingested molecule is a protoxin that is metabolized to its active form.[3]
In large quantities, ingestion can lead to critical illness, including convulsions and death. Studies in rodents have shown an LD50 of 65 mg/kg.[4] In smaller, non-lethal quantities, ingestion can lead to intoxication, although clinical signs and symptoms may not present until months after exposure depending on the level of exposure.[5]
Senecionine ingestion can also induce DNA damage. Although there are few if any cases of human cancers directly linked to senecionine intoxication, rodent studies have shown that it is capable of inducing tumor formation in the liver, lung, skin, brain, spinal cord, pancreas, and gastrointestinal tract.[6]
Senecionine has also been evaluated as an anti-microbial. A cocktail of pyrrolizidine alkaloids with senecionine in it has been shown to be toxic to Fusarium fungi at millimolar concentrations.[6]
Treatment
There are currently no known available drugs or antidotes to treat senecionine poisoning. Treatment is supportive to permit liver regeneration, which may include administration of intravenous (IV) fluids to correct dehydration and electrolyte imbalances, IV glucose, and wound care with antibiotics if dermatitis is a presenting symptom.[5] Additionally, albumin infusions may be used to reduce ascites. Prevention remains the best method to reduce senecionine poisonings, including avoiding consumption of senecionine-containing plants and pesticide use to kill infestations of those plants.[5]
Biosynthesis and Chemistry
In Senecio species, biosynthesis of senecionine starts from L-arginine or L-ornithine.[8] Because plants don't have decarboxylase enzyme for L-ornithine, it must be first converted into L-arginine. Arginine can then be readily converted to putrescine and spermidine. Next, in an NAD+-dependent reaction catalyzed by homospermidine synthase (HSS), an aminopropyl group from putrescine is transferred to spermidine to form homospermidine, releasing 1,3-diaminopropane (see biosynthesis scheme).[9] HSS is the only enzyme that has been definitively implicated in this biosynthesis.[10]
Homospermidine is then oxidized and subsequently cyclized to form the stereospecificpyrrolizidine backbone. The aldehyde is then reduced and then the pyrrolizidine core is desaturated and hydroxylated through yet undetermined mechanisms to form retronecine. Retronecine is acylated by senecic acid, formed from two equivalents of L-isoleucine. This step forms the N-oxide of senecionine, which is subsequently reduced to yield senecionine.[10]
After oral ingestion, senecionine is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. When it reaches the liver, it is metabolized via three pathways: N-oxidation, oxidation, and ester hydrolysis. N-oxidation and hydrolysis are detoxification pathways, and the products of these reactions are conjugated and excreted by the kidneys. However, the N-oxide may be converted back into senecionine by cytochrome P-450 (CYP450) monooxygenases. Oxidation of senecionine to its respective dehydropyrrolizidine is responsible for its toxic effects.[6]
The Senecio plants groundsel and ragwort are both common and are found in many regions, most commonly as weeds on cultivated ground. Common ragwort is especially prevalent in Europe and has been responsible for livestock poisoning and deaths when it is consumed. In Africa, Australia, and the United States, Crotalaria species, shrub-like herbs, have been found to be responsible for similar livestock deaths. Horses seem to be particularly vulnerable to senecionine poisoning through ingestion of ragwort. Symptoms of poisoning in horses (known as "horse staggers") include nervousness, yawning, fatigue, and unsteady gait.[17]
Some species have evolved to leverage senecionine for their own benefit. Danaus chrysippus butterflies can safely consume senecionine-containing plants, making them taste very bitter and thus unpalatable to predators.[15] This adaptation is also present in grasshoppers of the genus Zonocerus[18] and the caterpillars of the Cinnabar moth.[19] Additionally, D. chrysippus are able to convert senecionine to pheromones necessary for successful mating. Consequently, experiments have shown that males deprived of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, including senecionine, in their diets are less successful at mating.[16]
Senecionine-containing herbs have been used in folk medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, hemorrhage, hypertension, and as a uterine stimulant, despite no documented evidence that it is effective for any of those conditions and overwhelming evidence of its toxicity.[20]
In humans, bread contaminated with ragwort has caused senecionine poisonings (a condition colloquially known as "bread poisoning" in South Africa). In the West Indies, poisonings have been reported from the consumption of herbal teas made with Crotalaria.[17]
See also
Riddelliine, a closely related pyrrolizidine alkaloid
References
^Smith, L. W.; Culvenor, C. C. J. (March 1981). "Plant Sources of Hepatotoxic Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids". Journal of Natural Products. 44 (2): 129–152. doi:10.1021/np50014a001. PMID7017073.
^Fu, Peter P.; Xia, Qingsu; Lin, Ge; Chou, Ming W. (2004). "Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids—Genotoxicity, Metabolism Enzymes, Metabolic Activation, and Mechanisms". Drug Metabolism Reviews. 36 (1): 1–55. doi:10.1081/DMR-120028426. PMID15072438. S2CID13746999.
^Stegelmeier, B. L.; Edgar, J. A.; Colegate, S. M.; Gardner, D. R.; Schoch, T. K.; Coulombe, R. A.; Molyneux, R. J. (1999). "Pyrrolizidine alkaloid plants, metabolism and toxicity". Journal of Natural Toxins. 8 (1): 95–116. ISSN1058-8108. PMID10091131.
^Were, Obuya; Benn, Michael; Munavu, Raphael M. (March 1991). "Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids from Senecio hadiensis". Journal of Natural Products. 54 (2): 491–499. doi:10.1021/np50074a022.
^"Senecionine". pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
^Zhu, L; Xue, J; Xia, Q; Fu, PP; Lin, G (February 2017). "The long persistence of pyrrolizidine alkaloid-derived DNA adducts in vivo: kinetic study following single and multiple exposures in male ICR mice". Archives of Toxicology. 91 (2): 949–965. doi:10.1007/s00204-016-1713-z. PMID27125825. S2CID7962889.
^ abEdgar, J. A.; Cockrum, P. A.; Frahn, J. L. (December 1976). "Pyrrolizidine alkaloids inDanaus plexippus L. and Danaus chrysippus L.". Experientia. 32 (12): 1535–1537. doi:10.1007/BF01924437. S2CID27664625.
^"Cinnabar moth". A Nature Observer's Scrapbook. June 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-01-06. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
^Blumenthal, M, ed. (1998). The complete German Commission E monographs, Therapeutic guide to herbal medicines. American Botanical Council. p. 376. ISBN096555550X.