Teratological and toxicological studies of alkaloidal and phenolic compounds from Solanum tuberosum L

The teratologic and toxicologic effects of alkaloidal (alpha-chaconine alpha-solanine total glycoalkaloidal extract (TGA-extract)) and phenolic compounds (chlorogenic and caffeic acid) derived from Solanum Tuberosum L. were studied in pregnant and nonpregnant female rats. At the 95% confidence limit there was no marked difference in the potencies of alpha-chaconine alpha-solanine and the TGA-extract. The chronic administration of alpha-chaconine alpha-solanine and the TGA-extract to nonpregnant animals in a dose of 40 mg/kg/day for 2 days and in a dose of 20 mg/kg/day for 8 days had fatal effects in 40 and 42% of the animals respectively. 8 injections of alpha-chaconine (5-20 mg/kg/day) on Days 5-12 of pregnancy or 2 injections (40 mg/kg/day) on Days 5 and 6 of pregnancy resulted in a maternal mortality rate of 40-66% and a fetal mortality rate of 15-100%. However a similar schedule of treatment with alpha-solanine and the TGA-extract was lethal only to the fetus. Maternal or fetal death did not occur as the result of 8 daily injections of chlorogenic (5-500 mg/kg) and caffeic acid (40-187.5 mg/kg) on Days 5-12 of pregnancy. Neural tube defects did not occur as a result of any of the treatments though some 21-day-old fetuses had rib abnormalities.