Title: Amyloid fibrils: potential food safety implications

Authors: Michael Greger

Addresses: Public Health and Animal Agriculture, The Humane Society of the United States, 2100 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA

Abstract: The demonstration of oral Amyloid-A (AA) fibril transmissibility has raised food safety questions about the consumption of amyloidotic viscera. In a presumed prion-like mechanism, amyloid fibrils have been shown to trigger and accelerate the development of AA amyloidosis in rodent models. The finding of amyloid fibrils in edible avian and mammalian food animal tissues, combined with the inability of cooking temperatures to eliminate their amyloidogenic potential, has led to concerns that products such as pate de foie gras may activate a reactive systemic amyloidosis in susceptible consumers. Given the ability of amyloid fibrils to cross-seed the formation of chemically heterologous fibrils, the speculative etiologic role of dietary amyloid in other disease processes involving amyloid formation such as Alzheimer|s disease and Type II Diabetes is also discussed.

Keywords: Alzheimer|s disease; Amyloid-A fibrils; amyloidosis; pate de foie gras; food safety; prions; rheumatoid arthritis; Type II Diabetes; T2D; amyloidotic viscera; amyloid fibrils; rodent models; etiologic role; dietary amyloid.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFSNPH.2008.023011

International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, 2008 Vol.1 No.2, pp.103 - 115

Published online: 07 Feb 2009 *

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