Abstract
EC is one of the chemicals unintentionally produced during fermentation; it is classified by IARC as probably carcinogenic to humans. In this study, we evaluated the toxicological effects of EC in short-term administration on the major organs in mice, particularly the lungs and liver.
Six-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were treated with drinking water containing EC at doses of 300, 1000 and 2000 ppm for 4 weeks. The control group was fed tap water ad libitum. The diet was solid feed MF, and body weight and water consumption were measured. At the end of the treatment period, animals were dissected for pathological analysis.
The EC-treated group showed a decreasing trend in both body weight and water consumption compared to the control group. Serum AST and T-BIL were tended to increase.
Histopathologically, there were no obvious changes in the lungs and liver, but immunohistochemical staining showed an increase in F4/80-positive macrophages in both organs in the high-dose group. Gene expression analysis showed increased MCP-1 and IL-6 in the lungs and increased or a trend toward increased IL-1β, TNFα and MCP-1 in the liver.
No obvious impairment changes were observed in any of the organs in this study. However, in the liver and lungs, there was an increase in tissue macrophages and a trend toward increased inflammation-related genes, suggesting that EC may influence the induction of inflammation in these organs.
