The bracken fern Pteridium aquilinum is a plant known to be carcinogenic to animals. Epidemiological studies have shown an association between bracken fern exposure and gastric cancer development in humans. The biological effects of exposure to this plant within the gastric carcinogenesis process are not fully understood. In the present work, effects in the gastric mucosa of mice treated with P...

Bracken ferns (genus Pteridium) represent an ancient species complex with a natural worldwide distribution. Pteridium has historically been treated as comprising a single species, but recent treatments have recognized several related species. Phenotypic plasticity, geographically structured morphological variation, and geographically biased sampling have all contributed to taxonomic confusion i...

Thiaminase type 1 and 2 activities and thiamine content of five plants were determined. Of these Pteridium aquilinum and Equisetum ramosissimum were found to have considerably more thiaminase activity and lower thiamine content than Malva parviflora, Pennisetum clandestinum and Medicago sativa.

Ptaquiloside, along with other natural phytotoxins, is receiving increased attention from scientists and land use managers. There is an urgent need to increase empirical evidence to understand the scale of phytotoxin mobilisation and potential to enter into the environment. In this study the risk of ptaquiloside to drinking water was assessed by quantifying ptaquiloside in the receiving waters ...

Irradiation of the gametophytes of Pteridium aquilinum with blue light led to a nearly 5-fold increase in the amino acid-incorporating activity of isolated chloroplasts. The blue light effect was not due to increased synthesis of ATP or other energy donors by the chloroplasts but was probably related to an increased production of chlorophyll and photosynthetic enzymes.

By quantitative techniques it has been shown that the expected tumor frequency after x-irradiation of spores of the fern Pteridium aquilinum can be reduced by the addition of casein hydrolyzate or amino acids to the medium upon which the spores are germinated and grown into either prothalli or tumors.

The multifactorial origin of gastric cancer encompasses environmental factors mainly associated with diet. Pteridium aquilinum-bracken fern-is the only higher plant known to cause cancer in animals. Its carcinogenic toxin, ptaquiloside, has been identified in milk of cows and groundwater. Humans can be directly exposed by consumption of the plant, contaminated water or milk, and spore inhalatio...