Evaluation of Toxicant-Associated Fatty Liver Disease and Liver Neoplastic Progress in Sprague-Dawley Rats Treated with Low Doses of Aflatoxin B1 Alone or in Combination with Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields

Toxins (Basel). 2022 May 3;14(5):325. doi: 10.3390/toxins14050325.

Abstract

The term toxicant-associated fatty liver disease (TAFLD) has been proposed to describe fatty liver diseases connected to toxicants other than alcohol. Aflatoxins are mycotoxins commonly found as contaminants in foods and feeds, which are known liver toxicants and potential candidates as potential causes of TAFLD. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) was administered at low doses to Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, alone or in combination with S-50 Hz an extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELFEMF), to study the evolution of TAFLD, preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions of the liver and the potential enhancing effect of lifespan exposure to ELFEMF. Steatosis, inflammation and foci of different types were significantly increased in both aflatoxin-treated males and females, which is consistent with a pattern of TAFLD. A significant increase in adenomas, cystic dilation of biliary ducts, hepatocellular hyperplasia and hypertrophy and oval cell hyperplasia were also observed in treated females only. The administration of low doses of AFB1 caused TAFLD in SD rats, inducing liver lesions encompassing fatty infiltration, foci of different types and adenomas. Furthermore, the pattern of change observed in preneoplastic liver lesions often included liver steatosis and steatohepatitis (TASH). ELFEMF did not result in any enhancing or toxic effect in the liver of SD rats.

Keywords: Aflatoxin b; Sprague-Dawley rats; hepatotoxicity; liver; toxicant associated fatty liver disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aflatoxin B1 / metabolism
  • Aflatoxin B1 / toxicity
  • Aflatoxins*
  • Animals
  • Electromagnetic Fields
  • Fatty Liver*
  • Female
  • Hyperplasia
  • Liver Neoplasms*
  • Male
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Substances

  • Aflatoxins
  • Aflatoxin B1

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Ramazzini Institute, Bologna, Italy; and this research was funded by Ministero della Salute, Project title: “Toxicant associated fatty liver disease and toxicant associated steatohepatitis: a bench to bedside approach with identification of hepatotoxic agents in a large series of rat models and prospective validation in a human cohort of patients diagnosed as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)”, project Type: Young Researcher (under 40 years), grant number: GR-2016-02363251.