Effects of dietary wheat bran on absorption and accumulation of PCBs in rats

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are toxic environmental contaminants, which tend to accumulate in the food chain. Since dietary intake is the most important exposure route, PCB body burden may be affected by taking proper dietary measures. In the present study, diets were supplemented with either wheat bran or its cellulose based placebo in order to study the effect of bran consumption on the absorption of dietary PCBs and the excretion of initially stored PCBs. During the period of PCB intake, faecal PCB excretion was elevated by consumption of wheat bran as compared to the placebo. Hence, apparent faecal PCB digestibilities as well as PCB retentions in the whole body were lower in the wheat bran consuming rats. After ending PCB consumption, dietary wheat bran had only a minor effect on faecal PCB output while accumulation in the body was not affected. When PCBs were consumed for a longer time, a small but significant reduction of apparent faecal PCB digestibility was found. However, PCB content in the body kept increasing while PCB retention as percent of intake remained almost constant. Furthermore, differences among individual PCB congeners in metabolic susceptibility and hydrophobic characteristics had an impact on their accumulation in the body.