In Vivo Comet Assay of Food Additives’ Combinations and their Effects on Biochemical Parameters in Albino Rats

Abstract

Although the safety of food additives had been assessed individually, these permitted additives may be unsafe if used together; this study was piloted to assess the safety of various food additive mixtures. Fifty male Albino rats - Wistar strain (4 weeks old) were distributed into 10 groups, the first group orally administered distilled water, the other nine groups orally administered different mixtures of food additives at NOAEL dosage for each food additive for 30 days. Haemoglobin, malondialdehyde, kidney functions, activities of AST, ALT, and ALP. Levels of bilirubin, total protein, and albumin were also determined. Assessment of the genotoxic effect using in vivo alkaline comet assay was performed in the brain, liver, and kidney tissues. The results indicated significant Hb concentration reduction was recorded by all studied food additives’ combination compared to the control group. With the number of additives increases the Hb, total serum protein and albumin contents were significantly (p <0.05) decreased; in contrast, there was an increase in MDA, urea, creatinine, liver function enzyme activity, and bilirubin levels. Also, the examined food additives’ combinations exhibited genotoxic activities with different degrees compared to control rats in the brain, kidney, and liver, with the number of additives increases the genotoxic effect increased.