Evaluating possible genotoxicity of three feed additives recommended for aquaculture by using micronucleus test on Danio rerio erythrocytes

Abstract

Based on the internal study results there has been examined the effect of three feed additives of different functional status (butyric acid, organomineral chelate compounds, lycopene) on occurrence of micronuclei (MN) and other nuclear anomalies (NA) in Danio rerio erythrocytes. Evaluation of the genotoxicity of butyric acid didn’t show any genotoxic effect throughout the experiment. The highest frequency of MN occurrence was recorded on the 5th day of the experiment at a concentration of 1 mg/l and amounted to 0.28%. When using organomineral chelate compounds in feed composition, it was also not found that the threshold values for the occurrence of MN (5/1 000 cells) were exceeded. Lycopene showed the pronounced antigenotoxic properties expressed in a decrease in the occurrence of MN and NA up to the control values, which is significantly lower than in testing other feed additives. The data obtained helped to find out that when using all the studied feed additives on the 5th day of the experiment the frequency of occurrence of NA significantly increased and then decreased to the control values. This effect may be explained by three factors: adaptation of fish to a new diet; increased erythropoiesis and greater number of erythroblasts in the peripheral blood; high affinity of the chelating agent with trace element ions. The biosafety tests of three feed additives on the Danio rerio model object showed the absence of a genotoxic effect in the entire range of concentrations studied. Consequently, these functional additives can be recommended for including into food products.