Effect of oral exposure to acrylamide on biochemical and hematologic parameters in Wistar rats.

The toxic effects of ACR monomer include carcinogenesis, cellular genotoxic, and neurotoxicity. In this study, we examined the effect of acrylamide on biochemical and hematologic parameters in Wistar rats and explored the renal and hepatic function of these animals through a complementary anatomopathologic study. For it, thirty female Wistar rats aged 4 weeks and weighing 100 ± 10 g were housed six animals per cage and divided as follows: two groups were exposed for 2 months to drinking water containing 5 mg (Group 2) or 10 mg acrylamide (Group 3); one group of 12 rats received the median lethal dose of acrylamide by gavage (Group 4); and the control group (Group 1) received pure water. The results clearly showed that acrylamide affects various biochemical parameters, such as creatinine, urea, and serum globulin levels and the lipid balance, which are directly related to renal and hepatic dysfunction and disruption of the hematologic system. In addition, the data revealed changes in the complete blood count (CBC); significant increases in the number of leukocytes (9.95 ± 1.44 and 10.44 ± 1.21) and lymphocytes (6.11 ± 0.48 and 6.33 ± 0.76) in Groups 3 and 4, respectively; and decreases in total protein (88.95 ± 6.36), albumin (37.65 ± 1.65) and α-1 globulin levels (24.84 ± 2.10) in Group 3. The anatomopathologic study confirmed liver damage in the animals administered an acrylamide containing diet compared with those in the control group. The present study confirmed the effects of acrylamide on different hematologic, biochemical and immunologic parameters, with a specific focus on the liver and kidney, and on the induction of neurotoxic disorders. The results showed that oral exposure to acrylamide via drinking water or gavage induces kidney damage, hepatocellular insufficiency and chronic liver disease, resulting in primary immunodeficiency and activation of the immune system following the possible expression of certain immunoreaction genes.

Antibacterial activity of some lactic acid bacteria isolated from an Algerian dairy product.

In the present study, the antibacterial effect of 20 lactic acid bacteria isolates from a traditional cheese was investigated. 6 isolates showed antibacterial effect against Gram positive bacteria. Streptococcus thermophilus T2 strain showed the wide inhibitory spectrum against the Gram positive bacteria. Growth and bacteriocin production profiles showed that the maximal bacteriocin production, by S. thermophilus T2 cells, was measured by the end of the late-log phase (90 AU ml(-1)) with a bacteriocine production rate of 9.3 (AU ml(-1)) h(-1). In addition, our findings showed that the bacteriocin, produced by S. thermophilus T2, was stable over a wide pH range (4-8); this indicates that such bacteriocin may be useful in acidic as well as nonacidic food. This preliminarily work shows the potential application of autochthonous lactic acid bacteria to improve safety of traditional fermented food.