The use of
food additives in various products is growing up. It has attracted the attention towards the possible correlation between the mutagenic potential of
food additives and various human diseases. This work evaluated the protective role of
selenium and
vitamins A, C and E (
selenium ACE)(1) against the genotoxic effects induced by a synthetic
food additive,
sunset yellow, in mice. Six groups were studied including two control groups (negative and positive control), two groups are given single dose of
sunset yellow (either 0.325, 0.65 or 1.3mg/kg
body weight(2) alone or with
selenium ACE) and two groups are given
sunset yellow daily for 1, 2 or 3 weeks (0.325mg/kg b.wt./day alone or with
selenium ACE), respectively. The study examined the induction of sister chromatid exchanges (SCE's)(3) in bone-marrow cells,
chromosomal aberration in somatic (bone-marrow) and germ cells (spermatocytes) after single and repeated oral treatment, and the induction of morphological sperm abnormalities. The results showed that
sunset yellow had genotoxic effects as indicated by increased frequency of SCE's, by
chromosomal aberrations in both somatic and germ cells, and by increased morphological sperm abnormalities and DNA fragmentation. The results also indicated that the
oral administration of
selenium ACE significantly reduced the genotoxic effects of
sunset yellow, a result that may support the use of
antioxidants as chemopreventive agents in many applications.