Subchronic oral toxicity assessment of N-acetyl-L-aspartic acid in rats.
We investigated the systemic effects of subchronic dietary exposure to NAA in Sprague Dawley® rats. NAA was added to the diet at different concentrations to deliver target doses of 100, 250 and 500 mg/kg of body weight/day and was administered for 90 consecutive days. All rats (10/sex/group) survived until scheduled sacrifice. No diet-related differences in body weights, feed consumption and efficiency, clinical signs, or ophthalmologic findings were observed. No biologically significant differences or adverse effects were observed in functional observation battery (FOB) and motor activity evaluations, hematology, coagulation, clinical chemistry, urinalysis, organ weights, or gross pathology evaluations that were attributable to dietary exposure to NAA. Treatment-related increased incidence and degree of acinar cell hypertrophy in salivary glands was observed in both male and female rats in the high dose group. Because there was no evidence of injury or cytotoxicity to the salivary glands, this finding was not considered to be an adverse effect. Based on these results and the actual average doses consumed, the no-observed-adverse-effect-levels (NOAEL) for systemic toxicity from subchronic dietary exposure to NAA were 451.6 and 490.8 mg/kg of body weight/day for male and female Sprague Dawley® rats, respectively.
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Ankeny, Iowa 50021-7102, USA.
Sule
S
Karaman
John
J
Barnett
Greg P
GP
Sykes
Bryan
B
Delaney
D000818:Animals; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000633:toxicity; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016482:Urinalysis
D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate