Effect of long-term oral exposure to carmoisine or sunset yellow on different hematological parameters and hepatic apoptotic pathways in mice

Abstract

|Azo dyes such as carmoisine (Car) and sunset yellow (SY) are widely used synthetic pigments with many health issues reported. Yet, the different mechanisms associated with the detrimental effect of long-term oral administration with elevated levels of either Car or SY remain understudied. Several key endpoints were assessed including hematological, biochemical, and molecular biological parameters using a total of 100 adult Balb/c male mice. Five groups containing 20 mice each were orally administered comparable doses of either SY or Car for 12 weeks: Group (1) was a control group, group (2) were administered with the acceptable daily intake (ADI) limit of SY (4 mg/kg B.wt.), group (3) were administered with 10x of the ADI limit of SY, group (4) were administered with the ADI limit of Car (30 mg/kg B.wt) and group (5) were administered 10x of the ADI limit of Car. Exposure to higher doses of either SY or Car significantly (P < 0.05) altered the hematological parameters, decreased (P < 0.05) serum total protein (TP), albumin and globulin levels, increased (P < 0.05) liver enzymes, reduced (P < 0.05) hepatic antioxidant enzymes level and increased (P < 0.05) the lipid peroxidation marker malonaldehyde (MDA), upregulated (P < 0.05) the mRNA expression of the proapoptotic genes and down regulated (P < 0.05) the transcriptional level of the antiapoptotic gene Bcl2. Collectively, excessive oral administration of the two food coloring agents (Car and CY) for 12 weeks is hepato-toxic and shall be approached with caution.