Alves de Lima R O, Azevedo L, Ribeiro L R, Salvadori D M F
TOXICAN--Núcleo de Avaliação Toxicogenética e Cancerígena, Depto. de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina-UNESP, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2003 Feb;41(2):189-92. doi: 10.1016/s0278-6915(02)00208-9.
Most manufactured foods contain chemicals added as a deliberate part of the manufacturing process. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the mutagenicity and antimutagenicity of annatto, a natural pigment extracted from the Bixa orellana L. and widely used as a colorant in foods. The micronucleus test was performed in bone marrow cells from Swiss male mice treated with one of the three concentrations of annatto (1330, 5330 and 10,670 ppm), incorporated into the diet. The animals were fed with the diets for 7 days and sacrificed 24 h after the last treatment. For the evaluation of the antimutagenic potential of annatto, at day 7, the animals received an intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide (50 mg/kg body weight). Under the concentrations tested annatto did not present mutagenic or antimutagenic activities on the mice bone marrow cells. However, an increased frequency of micronucleated cells was observed when the highest concentration (10,670 ppm) was administered simultaneously with cyclophosphamide. In conclusion, the data indicate that annatto colour, for the conditions used, is neither mutagenic nor an inhibitor of induced mutations, although it should be used carefully since high doses may increase the effect of a mutagen.
大多数加工食品都含有在制造过程中特意添加的化学物质。本研究的目的是评估胭脂树橙的致突变性和抗突变性，胭脂树橙是一种从红木中提取的天然色素，在食品中广泛用作着色剂。采用微核试验，对饮食中添加了三种浓度（1330、5330和10670 ppm）之一胭脂树橙的瑞士雄性小鼠骨髓细胞进行检测。给动物喂食这些饮食7天，并在最后一次处理后24小时处死。为了评估胭脂树橙的抗诱变潜力，在第7天，给动物腹腔注射环磷酰胺（50 mg/kg体重）。在所测试的浓度下，胭脂树橙对小鼠骨髓细胞没有致突变或抗突变活性。然而，当最高浓度（10670 ppm）与环磷酰胺同时给药时，观察到微核细胞频率增加。总之，数据表明，在所使用的条件下，胭脂树橙色素既不具有致突变性，也不是诱导突变的抑制剂，不过由于高剂量可能会增加诱变剂的作用，所以应该谨慎使用。
