Interaction Effects of 3-MCPD and Glycidol Co-Exposure on the Cytotoxicity in Hepatoma-Derived HuH-7 Cell Line

Abstract

Esters of 3-MCPD (3-MCPDE) and glycidol (GE) are processing contaminants that are digested during gastrointestinal tract in their respective free forms (3-MCPD and glycidol), which are toxic. Because the formation pathways of 3-MCPDE and GE are similar, the simultaneous contamination of several food products has been observed; however, effects of co-exposure to 3-MCPDE and GE are still poorly understood. Therefore, we evaluated the interaction effects of 3-MCPD and glycidol using human hepatoma cells cells using the Chou-Talalay method and other approaches. The IC50 confirmed that glycidol is more toxic than 3-MCPD. Moreover, while the synergistic effect between the compounds occurred with an affected fraction of at least 52% in the 1:1 ratio of 3-MCPD and glycidol, the antagonistic effect was present in conditions of high cell viability. Furthermore, Additive Response and Percentage Variation confirm that at high cell viability, 3-MCPD tends to reduce glycidol toxicity in vitro. Our results indicated not only that there are conditions that 3-MCPD and glycidol have antagonistic, but also synergistic effects.