THE IMPACT OF THE FOOD ADDITIVE E407A ON THE METABOLIC ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT CELL CULTURES

Abstract

Objectives. To study the effects of various concentrations of the food additive E407a (semi-refined carrageenan) on the metabolic activity of fetal liver cells, splenocytes, and bone marrow cells. Material and methods. Fetal liver, splenocytes and bone marrow cell cultures were incubated with the food additive E407a at concentrations varying from 0 mg/ml to 10 mg/ml for 24 hours (n=8). To analyze the effects of this food additive on the metabolic activity of cells, a colorimetric MTT assay was used. It is based on the ability of viable, metabolically active cells to convert 3 (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide into formazan. The data were statistically processed using Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s criteria. Results. The bone marrow cell culture was found to be the most sensitive to carrageenan. More than a twofold statistically significant (p<0.0001) increase in the metabolic activity of bone marrow cells was observed when using E407a from 200 μg/ml and above. The metabolic activity of splenocytes increased approximately 1.5 times and over (p<0.0001) when using carrageenans at the concentration of 500 μg/ml and higher. Fetal liver cells turned out to be the most resistant to the direct toxic effect of the food additive E407a. Conclusions. The food additive E407a is cytotoxic to bone marrow cells and splenocytes at concentrations of 200 μg/ml and 500 μg/ml, respectively.