Publication details
Analysis of the acute response of Galleria mellonella larvae to potassium nitrate
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part C: Toxicology & Pharmacology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Immunology |
| Keywords | Galleria mellonella; In vivo; Potassium nitrate; Toxicity; |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Potassium nitrate (E252) is widely used as a food preservative and has applications in the treatment of high blood pressure however high doses are carcinogenic. Larvae of Galleria mellonella were adminstered potassium nitrate to establish whether the acute effects in larvae correlated with those evident in mammals. Intra-haemocoel injection of potassium nitrate resulted in a significant increase in the densisty of circulating haemocytes and a small change in the relative proportions of haemocytes but haemocytes showed a reduced fungicidal ability. Potassium nitrate administration resulted in increased superoxide dimutase activity and in the abundance of a range of proteins associated with mitochondrial function (e.g. mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase, putative mitochondrial Mn superoxide dismutase), metabolism (e.g. triosephosphate isomerase, glyceraldehye 3 phosphate dehydrogenase) and nitrate metabolism (e.g. aliphatic nitrilase, glutathione S-transferase). A strong correlation exists between the toxicity of a range of food preservatives when tested in G. mellonella larvae and rats. In this work a correlation between the effect of potassium nitrate in larvae and mammals is shown and opens the way to the utilisation of insects for studying the in vivo acute and chronic toxicity of xenobiotics. |