Abstract
MANY pyrrolizidine alkaloids have toxic effects in the livers and sometimes the lungs of experimental animals1, and there is evidence that these effects are caused by metabolites formed by enzymic dehydrogenation of the alkaloids in the liver2–4. These metabolites are highly reactive dihydropyrrolizine esters which when released in the liver cell can react with nucleophilic tissue constituents. The heterocyclic moiety can become bound to the tissue while the acid moiety is liberated as the anion.
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MATTOCKS, A. Role of the Acid Moieties in the Toxic Actions of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids on Liver and Lung. Nature 228, 174–175 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/228174a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/228174a0
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