Genotoxic and tumorigenic pyrrolizidme alkaloids in Chinese herbal plants

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are a class of hepatotoxic and tumorigenic compounds detected in Chinese herbal plants,contaminated foods, and dietary supplements. In this review, the sources, toxicity, genotoxicity, tumorigenicity, and the metabolic pathways,particular the activation pathways leading to hepatotoxicity and tumorigenicity, of pyrrolizidine alkaloids are briefly discussed, with a focus on the most recent important findings concerning the genotoxic mechanism by which riddelliine liver tumors. This mechanism involves the formation of 6,7-dihydro-7-hydroxy-1-hydroxymethyl-5H-pyrrolizine (DHP)-derived DNA adducts and may be general to most carcinogenic pyrrolizidine alkaloids.