Histopathological and the Dose Depended Effects of Aspartame toxicity on Liver and Kidney of Rats

Abstract

Aspartame is a commonly employed artificial sweetener used by hyperglycemic patients and in food management. Its danger depends on the outcome of previous studies that revealed controversy. The purpose of this study was to look into the histopathological effects of aspartame on renal and hepatic organ tissues in laboratory albino rats. This study used thirty albino rats that were 3 to 4 months old and weighed between 250 and 325 g. They were divided into three groups (ten animals for each group); Group 1 was a control group (food and water ad-libitum). Groups 2 and 3 were treated with aspartame at doses of 40, 80 mg/kg, respectively. All the treatments were administered by using oral gavage once a day for 120 days after the end of the experiment, the organs were collected for histopathological examination. According to dose, results showed the histopathological changes were varied in both the liver and kidney as a result of aspartame administration compared to the control group. The results show that the toxic effects of aspartame in rats treated with 80 mg/kg are greater than those in rats treated with 40 mg/kg, this indicates that the aspartame needs a high dose to create pathological effects. The study concluded that aspartame became more hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic by increasing its dose.

Keywords

• aspartame
• hepatotoxicity
• histopathology
• nephrotoxicity
• rats