DL-Glyceraldehyde

DL-Glyceraldehyde (Glyceric aldehyde) is produced from the action of the enzyme glyceraldehyde dehydrogenase, which converts glycerol to glyceraldehyde using NADP as a cofactor. When present at sufficiently high levels, DL-Glyceraldehyde can be a cytotoxin and a mutagen. A cytotoxin is a compound that kills cells. A mutagen is a compound that causes mutations in DNA. DL-Glyceraldehyde is a highly reactive compound that can modify and cross-link proteins. DL-Glyceraldehyde modified proteins appear to be cytotoxic, depress intracellular glutathione levels, and induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) production (PMID: 14981296) . DL-Glyceraldehyde has been shown to cause chromosome damage to human cells in culture and is mutagenic in the Ames bacterial test.