Toxic Effects of Food Colorants Erythrosine and Tartrazine on Zebrafish Embryo Development

Radhika Gupta,Sonali Gupta,Aanchal Yadav,Ojasvi Chopra,Bhawana Verma,Kangana Malhotra,Adita Joshi,Chitra Bhasin,Padmshree Mudgal,Mahima Madan,Shefali Jain,Shashi Ranjan

doi:10.12944/crnfsj.7.3.26

Radhika Gupta, Sonali Gupta + Show 10 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.12944/crnfsj.7.3.26

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Abstract

Erythrosine and tartrazine are common artificial food additives which have become a part of daily human consumption. Advised daily intake values for these agents are set strictly, however, the actual intake is much higher than the recommended ADI. A higher intake of erythrosine and tartrazine is shown to exhibit adverse effects in mammalian models, and is thus a matter of public health concern. In this study we have assessed and compared the dose-dependent effects of erythrosine and tartrazine on inducing oxidative stress in zebrafish embryos. We performed the superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity assay to test the effect of the two food colorants on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Erythrosine and tartrazine treated embryos showed significantly increased SOD activity in an enzyme assay. Additionally SOD mRNA transcripts in the treated embryos were found to be upregulated. Erythrosine and tartrazine treatment specifically altered SOD1 mRNA transcript levels while it had no effect on SOD2 mRNA, the other isoform found in zebrafish. Our study shows that erythrosine at a concentration of 0.05% is embryotoxic in a dose and time dependent manner. Tartrazine treated embryos exhibit similar toxicity at a concentration of 0.5%. Erythrosine treated zebrafish embryos hatch much slower when compared to tartrazine treated embryos and control embryos. While erythrosine affects the yolk utilization, tartrazine exhibits teratogenic effects on early zebrafish embryos. The mRNA expression as well as biochemical analysis indicates that exposure to food colorants induces cytoplasmic SOD transcription to combat the ROS toxicity in zebrafish embryos.

Highlights

Food colorants are natural or synthetic substances used to artificially color and enhance the appearance of food products
Erythrosine Shows Higher Embryotoxicity Over Tartrazine in Zebrafish Embryos Zebrafish embryos at the 1000 cell stage were grown in the presence of different concentrations of erythrosine ranging from 0.001% to 0.1%, and tartrazine from 0.01% to 0.5%
A treatment of 0.1% erythrosine resulted in 50% survival of the treated embryos by ~80 hpf which further reduced to 15% by 96 hpf (Figure 1A)

Summary

Introduction

Food colorants are natural or synthetic substances used to artificially color and enhance the appearance of food products. Natural food dyes though are safe to use but, do not provide a bright color.1Thus, artificial food colorants (AFCs) such as erythrosine which provide bright color are popular in food industry.[1] Most of the AFCs are approved by food regulatory authorities, yet long term effects of consumption are a major health concern. Some of the reasons include lack of scientific data describing the side effects of long term regular consumption. Food manufacturing companies often use AFCs in quantity more than the ADI (Advised daily intake).[2] Such an unregulated consumption may impose significant public health risks, especially in young children and adolescents. It is necessary to regularly evaluate the safety conditions of AFC use and revise the mandatory regulatory ADI recommendations

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