The Effect of Feeding Genetically Modified Soybean on Histopathology of Organs in Sprague-Dawley Rats

Abstract

Background: Concerns about the negative impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops have grown worldwide, necessitating research to determine robust standards. The scientific community has focused on unacceptably harmful impacts of diets consisting of GM crops. Animal experiments are providing valuable and important information regarding the safety of GM crops for both animal and human consumption. In this regard in this study, the effects of a diet containing 70% GM soybean on organs of rats were investigated.Methods: Twenty four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to two groups and were fed with a diet containing either (70%) GM soybean or (0%) GM soybean (control) for 120 days. Histopathological examination and appearance of organs were compared between rats fed non-GM soybean and those fed GM soybean.Results: All rats fed GM soybean diet and non-GM soybean diet had normal small intestine, large intestine, stomach, cecum and testes and no histopathological changes were observed. But, some histopathological alterations were seen in the brain, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and spleen in two groups; although, the Fisher’s Exact test showed that there were no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) between the two groups in terms of the frequency of normal and abnormal parts of them.Conclusion: Regardless of whether the diet consisted of GM or non-GM feed ingredients, the alterations were seen in a similar range in both groups.

Keywords

• food safety
• genetically modified
• soybean
• histopathology
• rat