Safety assessment of a wheat bran extract containing arabinoxylan-oligosaccharides: mutagenicity, clastogenicity, and 90-day rat-feeding studies

Int J Toxicol. 2010 Sep-Oct;29(5):479-95. doi: 10.1177/1091581810374219.

Abstract

Wheat bran extract (WBE) is a food-grade preparation that is highly enriched in arabinoxylan-oligosaccharides. As part of the safety evaluation of WBE, its genotoxic potential was assessed in a bacterial reverse mutagenicity assay (Ames test) and a chromosome aberration assay on Chinese hamster lung fibroblast cells. These in vitro genotoxicity assays showed no evidence of mutagenic or clastogenic activity with WBE. The safety of WBE was furthermore evaluated in a subchronic toxicity study on rats that were fed a semisynthetic diet (AIN 93G) containing 0.3%, 1.5%, or 7.5% WBE for 13 weeks, corresponding to an average intake of 0.2, 0.9, and 4.4 g/kg body weight (bw) per day, with control groups receiving the unsupplemented AIN 93G, AIN 93G with 7.5% inulin, or AIN 93G with 7.5% wheat bran. Based on this rat-feeding study, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for WBE was determined as 4.4 g/kg (bw)/d, the highest dose tested.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biotransformation
  • Cell Line
  • Cricetinae
  • Cricetulus
  • Dietary Fiber*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects
  • Female
  • Food Safety
  • Male
  • Mutagenicity Tests
  • No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level
  • Oligosaccharides / analysis*
  • Plant Extracts / chemistry*
  • Plant Extracts / metabolism
  • Plant Extracts / toxicity*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Salmonella typhimurium / drug effects
  • Seeds / chemistry*
  • Toxicity Tests
  • Triticum / chemistry*
  • Xylans / analysis*

Substances

  • Dietary Fiber
  • Oligosaccharides
  • Plant Extracts
  • Xylans
  • arabinoxylan