• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.374-382
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• 2011

Aflatoxin ($AFB_1$) is a potent hepatotoxic and hepatocarcinogenic mycotoxin in humans. It is also well-known to be accumulated in animal tissues via various metabolic pathways. This study was conducted to determine the effects of vitamin C on the residual $AFB_1$ in rat sera that were treated with radiation and $AFB_1$. Six week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups: a control group, $AFB_1$-treated group, the group treated with $AFB_1$ and vitamin C, the group treated with X-ray and AFB1, and the group treated with X-ray and $AFB_1$ with vitamin C. On the first day of the experiment, only one dose of X-rays was exposed to the entire liver at 1,500 cGy. Next, vitamin C was injected at 10 mg/kg body weight via intraperitoneal injection, followed 1 hr later by the administration of 0.4 mg/kg of $AFB_1$ via intraperitoneal injection. These treatments were then administered every three days over a period of 15 days. On the 16th day of treatments, the animals were sacrificed. The contents of $AFB_1$ in rat sera were determined via indirect competitive ELISA and HPLC method. In the quantitative analysis of $AFB_1$ in rat sera via ELISA, $5.17{\pm}0.34$ ng/mL of $AFB_1$ was detected in the $AFB_1$-treated groups, but the amount more significantly decreased to $3.23{\pm}0.76$ ng/mL in the groups treated with $AFB_1$ and vitamin C (p<0.01) than in the $AFB_1$-treated groups. The $AFB_1$ contents of the rat sera of the groups treated with X-ray and $AFB_1$ did not significantly decreased with the administration of vitamin C. The $AFB_1$ content of the rat sera that was analyzed via HPLC showed a tendency similar to that of the content that was analyzed via ELISA. With regard to these data, vitamin C was very effective in reducing $AFB_1$ residue in rat sera.