Acute and sub-acute oral toxicological evaluations and mutagenicity of N-carbamylglutamate (NCG)

Abstract

N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) is a metabolically stable analog of N-acetylglutamate that activates carbamyl phosphate synthase-1, a key arginine synthesis enzyme in enterocytes. It is a promising feed additive in swine in China. In this study, we assessed the acute and sub-acute toxicity of NCG in Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats. All rats survived until they were killed at a scheduled time point. No adverse effects or mortality was observed following acute oral administration of 5000 mg/kg NCG to SD rats. No biologically significant or test substance-related differences were observed in body weights, feed consumption, clinical signs, a functional observational battery, organ weights, histopathology, ophthalmology, hematology, coagulation, and clinical chemistry parameters in any of the treatment groups in sub-acute doses of NCG at target concentrations corresponding to 500, 2000, and 3000 mg/kg/day for 28 days neither. In addition, no evidence of mutagenicity or genotoxicity was found, either in vitro in bacterial reverse mutation assay or in vivo in mice bone marrow micronucleus assay and sperm shape abnormality assay. On the basis of our findings, we conclude that NCG is a non-toxic substance with no genotoxicity.