Effect of sodium benzoate on DNA breakage, micronucleus formation and mitotic index in peripheral blood of pregnant rats and their newborns

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of maternal and embryonal/fetal responses of Wistar rats to sodium benzoate administered on gestational days 0–20.

	Sodium benzoate, mg/kg/day (% in feed)
	1.5 mg/kg/day (0.5%)	5 mg/kg/day (1%)	7.5 mg/kg/day (1.5%)
Maternal responses
Total treated (n)	4	4	4
Removed (n)	0	0	0
Deaths (n)	0	0	0
Body weight change, corrected	–	–	–
Relative food and water consumption change	–	–	–
Clinical signs of toxicity	–	–	–
Embryonal/fetal responses	24	37	24
Live fetuses (n)^a	6 ± 1.4	6.25 ± 1.2	5.75 ± 0.9
Malformed fetuses (n)	0	0	0
Mean body length (cm)^a	5.12 ± 1.1	4.26 ± 1.2	4.13 ± 1.1

n, number of animals/fetuses.

^aMean values with standard deviation (SD).

Figure 1. Sum of MN frequency in T-lymphocytes of pregnant rats and their fetuses.

Figure 2. Representative electrophoretogram of genomic DNA isolated from liver cells of a mother and one of her newborns following treatment with different concentrations of SB. M, DNA ladder (100–1500 bp, Roche, Mannheim, Germany); Lanes 1, 3, 5, 7, DNA from liver cells of the mother following treatment with 0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% SB, respectively; Lanes 2, 4, 6, 8, DNA liver cells of a newborn following treatment with 0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% SB, respectively.