Effect of erythrosine and phloxine from xanthene food dyes on oxidative stress in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Abstract Objective of this study was to investigate the changes of oxidative stress parameters in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells exposed to xanthene food dyes (erythrosine and phloxine), commonly-used azo dyes in the food industry. For this purpose, glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) activity measurements of CHO cells treated with erythrosin (50 µM) and phloxine (40 µM) were compared with the control group. There was no significant difference between MDA levels in CHO cells exposed to both dyes and control group (p > 0.05), however GSH levels significantly decreased with dye addition (p ≤ 0.05). An increase in GPx activity of the CHO cells exposed to phloxin was observed (p ≤ 0.05). However, there was no change in GPX activity of erythrosin-exposed CHO cells (p > 0.05). In terms of CAT activity, difference between the dye-added cells and the control group was not observed. Consequently, decrease in level of GSH, which one of major antioxidant components in the cell, suggests that erythrosine and phloxine can have a toxic effect.