title: Effects of 90-Day Feeding of Transgenic Maize BT799 on the Reproductive System in Male Wistar Rats.
abstract: BT799 is a genetically modified (GM) maize plant that expresses the Cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The Cry1Ac gene was introduced into maize line Zhen58 to encode the Bt crystal protein and thus produce insect-resistant maize BT799. Expression of Bt protein in planta confers resistance to Lepidopteran pests and corn rootworms. The present study was designed to investigate any potential effects of BT799 on the reproductive system of male rats and evaluate the nutritional value of diets containing BT799 maize grain in a 90-day subchronic rodent feeding study. Male Wistar rats were fed with diets containing BT799 maize flours or made from its near isogenic control (Zhen58) at a concentration of 84.7%, nutritionally equal to the standard AIN-93G diet. Another blank control group of male rats were treated with commercial AIN-93G diet. No significant differences in body weight, hematology and serum chemistry results were observed between rats fed with the diets containing transgenic BT799, Zhen58 and the control in this 13-week feeding study. Results of serum hormone levels, sperm parameters and relative organ/body weights indicated no treatment-related side effects on the reproductive system of male rats. In addition, no diet-related changes were found in necropsy and histopathology examinations. Based on results of the current study, we did not find any differences in the parameters tested in our study of the reproductive system of male rats between BT799 and Zhen58 or the control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. mrLi4j@163.com.|Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China. mrLi4j@163.com.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Toxicological Research and Risk Assessment for Food Safety, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. mrLi4j@163.com.
authors.forename: Qian-ying
authors.initials: QY
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. helixiapku@163.com.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Toxicological Research and Risk Assessment for Food Safety, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. helixiapku@163.com.
authors.forename: Li-xia
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zhuhan@bjmu.edu.cn.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Toxicological Research and Risk Assessment for Food Safety, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zhuhan@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. shangjunli2013@gmail.com.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Toxicological Research and Risk Assessment for Food Safety, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. shangjunli2013@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jun-li
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zhulingyan2013@163.com.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Toxicological Research and Risk Assessment for Food Safety, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zhulingyan2013@163.com.
authors.forename: Ling-yan
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. bmuwjbxy@bjmu.edu.cn.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Toxicological Research and Risk Assessment for Food Safety, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. bmuwjbxy@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jun-bo
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. liyongbmu@163.com.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Toxicological Research and Risk Assessment for Food Safety, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. liyongbmu@163.com.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001835:Body Weight; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D030841:Food, Genetically Modified / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D009753:Nutritive Value; D009929:Organ Size; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D003313:Zea mays / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D015415:Biomarkers; D004731:Endotoxins; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; C030956:insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis
keywords: BT799; Bacillus thuringiensis; reproductive toxicity; sperm parameters; transgenic maize