Effects of flour bleaching agent on mice liver antioxidant status and ATPases

Benzoyl peroxide (BPO) is a strong oxidizing agent and widely used as flour bleaching agent. However their potential risk of liver damage is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of BPO on mice liver antioxidant status and ATPases according to the actual amount of BPO in flour from Jinan, China. The results showed that the maximum concentration of BPO reached up to 284.6 mg/kg and content of BPO mainly ranged from 0 to 240 mg/kg. Therefore, four groups of mice were gavaged daily with BPO at doses of 0, 50, 100, 200 mg/kg b.w./d for 42 days, respectively. In liver tissue, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was significantly decreased, while the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) significantly increased following BPO exposure at 200 mg/kg b.w. BPO significantly decreased the Mg2+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase activities of the liver at 200 mg/kg b.w. BPO, at all of the doses assayed, produced non-significant effects on glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and Na+K+-ATPase activities. Experimental results suggested that BPO had certain adverse effects on antioxidant status and the activities of Mg2+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase of liver tissue.