Planta Med 2012; 78 - PH25
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1320684

Annonaceous acetogenins as environmental neurotoxins: Human exposure from edible Annona fruits

N Bonneau 1, J Le Ven 1, I Schmitz-Afonso 2, V Guérineau 2, I Bajin ba Ndob 1, L Baloul 1, G Lewin 1, O Laprévote 2, 3, A Brunelle 2, D Touboul 2, P Champy 1
  • 1Université Paris-Sud, Laboratoire de Pharmacognosie associé au CNRS, UMR 8076 BioCIS, LabEx LERMIT, 5, rue Jean-Baptiste Clément, 92296 Châtenay-Malabry Cedex, France
  • 2Centre de recherche de Gif, Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, CNRS, avenue de la terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
  • 3Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Laboratoire de Chimie-Toxicologie Analytique et Cellulaire, IFR 71, Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques, 4 avenue de l'Observatoire, 75006 Paris, France

Annonaceous acetogenins (AAGs) are inhibitors of the first complex in mitochondrial respiratory chain. They are proposed as environmental neurotoxins responsible for Guadeloupean atypical Parkinsonism. The edible fruits of Annona muricata L. (soursop) and Asimina triloba Dunal (pawpaw) were previously shown to constitute major sources of exposure to these compounds. We performed study of total extracts using MALDI-TOF MS and dereplicative methods, and here propose quantitative data showing homogeneity between fruits of A. muricata from diverse origins, in which annonacin is the major AAG. The fruits of A. squamosa also constitute a source of exposure, with squamocin as the major representative of AAGs. The fruit of A. reticulata and edible products derived from A. cherimolia were similarly studied. Our results are significant in regard to public health and support the inclusion of Annona spp. exposure/consumption in studies investigating potential risk factors for neurodegeneration.