Rhodotorula glutinis and Its Two Mutants Ameliorate Hepato-Renal Dysfunction Induced by Ochratoxin A on Rats

Aim: This study was designed to investigate the possible curative effect of Rhodotorula glutinis (R. glutinis) and its two mutants (Col-1R1 and Col-1R3) against hepatorenal toxicity induced by ochratoxin (OA) in rat.

Methods: The strains of yeast Col- 1R1 and Col- 1R3 have been genetically improved and isolated from R. glutinis after colchicines treatment. OA was produced and determined from Aspergillus ochracus isolate from Egyptian corn. Experimental design: Five groups of rats were treated as follows: group 1, was the control group orally given 4 ml / Kg 0.1 M NaCOH3; group 2 treated with OA (1.7 mg /Kg).Groups 3, 4 and 5 orally administered the R. glutinis and its two mutants (50 X106 colony forming unit (cfu) / 10 ml saline / kg body weight) prior 1hr of OA -treatment for 15 successive days.

Results: The studied autoploidy strains showed significant increase in caratenoids level, protease, β-1, 3-glucanase and chitinase activities when compared with the parental strain.

Biochemical results revealed that OA significantly decreased serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and it caused elevation inserum transaminases (AST, ALT), creatinine, uric acid, nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (P <0.05) as compared with the control group. The three tested yeasts significantly decreased the elevated values toward the normal levels and improved the pathological feature in liver and kidney tissues. Moreover, R. glutinis and the two mutants significantly reduced hepatorenal damaged arias, increased optical density of DNA and alleviated ochratoxin A-induced caspase-3 activation. The resultant effect of the two mutant strains had more powerful effect more than the wild strainto ameliorate hepatorenal dysfunction in ochratoxicosis-rat.

Conclusion: Col-1R3 was more effective than Col-1R1 may be due to its higher contents of carotenoids, glucane and chitine, which act as antioxidants.