Galactosemia is an inherited metabolic disease in which galactose is not properly metabolised. There are various theories to explain the molecular pathology, and recent experimental evidence strongly suggests that oxidative stress plays a key role. High galactose diets are damaging to experimental animals and oxidative stress also plays a role in this toxicity which can be alleviated by purple sweet potato colour (PSPC). This plant extract is rich in acetylated anthocyanins which have been shown to quench free radical production. The objective of this Commentary is to advance the hypothesis that PSPC, or compounds therefrom, may be a viable basis for a novel therapy for galactosemia.
Keywords: Anthocyanin; galactose 1-phosphate uridylyltransferase deficiency; galactosemia; inherited metabolic disease; oxidative stress; sweet potato.