Abstract
Background: Over the past 20 years, the increased consumption of transgenic products for humans and animals led to the conduction of nutritional studies in this regard. However, these studies were limited, and they did not find a definitive answer to the possible health hazards of transgenic products. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of a diet containing transgenic soybean oil on rats.
Methods: Accordingly, male Wistar rats (N=6/group) were given a nutritionally moderate purified diet with 10% genetically modified soybean oil for 90 days. Two control groups receiving non-genetically modified soybean oil and a standardized diet were also enrolled. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tuky post hoc analysis was used to compare the values between groups and to detect the effects of transgenic soybean oil.
Results: Rats fed on transgenic soybean oil demonstrated several histologic changes in pancreas tissues, including changes in severe congestion, the presence of inflammatory cells, and changes in the Langerhans islands. However, no changes were observed in the spleen, except for negligible congestion in all treatment groups. Regarding blood indicators, hemoglobin levels in the transgenic soybean oil group decreased compared to the other two groups (P<0.05).
Conclusion: According to our results, a 90-day treatment with transgenic soy-based oil caused significant organ changes in the pancreas tissue of rats. Further studies evaluating the long-term effects are also needed to better elucidate these effects.