Immunotoxic Effects of the Color Additive Caramel Color III: Immune Function Studies in Rats

Geert F. Houben*, Andrè H. Penninks, Willem Seinen, Joseph G. Vos, Henk Van Loveren

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Immunotoxic Effects of the Color Additive Caramel Color III: Immune Function Studies in Rats. Houben G. F., Penninks, A. H., Seinein, W., Vos, J. G., and Van Loveren, H. (1993). Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 20, 30-37. Administration of the color additive caramel color III (AC) may cause a reduction in total while blood cell counts in rats due to reduced lymphocyte counts. Beside lymphopenia, several other effects in rat have been described. The effects are caused by the imidazole derivative 2-acetyl-4(5)-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroxybutyl)imidazole (THI) and occur in rats fed a diet low in vitamin B6. In the present paper, immune function studies on AC and THI with rats fed a diet low, but not deficient in vitamin B6 are presented and discussed. Rats were exposed to 0.4 or 4% AC,or to 5.72 ppm THI to drinking water during and for 28 days prior to the start of immune function assays. Resistance to Trichinella spiralis was examined in an oral infection model and clearance of Listeria monocytogenes upon an intravenous infection was studied. In addition, natural cell-mediated cytotoxicity of splenic and nonadherent peritoneal cells and the antibody response to sheep red blood cells were studied. From the results it is concluded that exposure of rats to AC or THI influenced various immune function parameters. Thymus-dependent immunity was suppressed, while parameters of the nonspecific resistance were also affected, as shown by a decreased natural cell-mediated cytotoxicity in the spleen and an enhanced clearance of L. monocytogenes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)30-37
Number of pages8
JournalToxicological Sciences
Volume20
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 1993
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Immunotoxic Effects of the Color Additive Caramel Color III: Immune Function Studies in Rats'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this