The effect of 60-day exposure to sodium benzoate on the chemical composition of the regenerate formed in the tibia

Abstract

Background. Sodium benzoate is a preservative widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries. There is some evidence of its effect on the morphofunctional condition of metaepiphyseal and condylar cartilages, the chemical composition of bones, and their ultrastructure. However, there is virtually no data on the chemical composition of the tubular bone regenerate formed therein. Aim To study the effect of 60-day exposure to sodium benzoate on the chemical composition of the regenerate formed in the tibia during key stages of reparative osteogenesis. Material and methods The experiment was conducted on 90 mature white male rats divided into 3 groups as follows: a control group (60-day administration of saline followed by a tibial fracture modeling), the first and the second experimental groups (sodium benzoate administration at a dose of 500 and 1000 mg/kg respectively instead of normal saline). The content of water, organic, and mineral matters in the tibial regenerate was determined gravimetrically on days 3, 10, 15, 24, and 45 after the fracture modeling. Results On days 3, 10 of the experiment, the first and second experimental groups showed water content decrease in the regenerate compared to the control value by 3.27% (p=0.073) and 0.77% (p=0.383), 4.18% (p=0.017) and 1.60% (p=0.383), respectively; a decrease in organic matter by 2.48% (p=0.383) and 3.45% (p=0.128), 1.04% (p=0.620) and 3.08% (p=0.165); and an increase in mineral content by 5.03% (p=0.011) and 3.24% (p=0.053), 5.30% (p=0.002) and 3.98% (p=0.053). On days 15, 24, 45, water content increased by 0.52% (p=0.535) and 3.59% (p=0.038), 7.58% (p<0.001) and 11.49% (p<0.001), 6.50% (p=0.017) and 10.86% (p<0.001), while organic matter content, on the contrary, decreased by 4.36% (p=0.053) and 6.19% (p=0.011), 4.95% (p=0.038), 6.92% (p=0.007), 2.78% (p=0.259) and 4.43% (p=0.038). On day 15, the mineral content remained higher than the control value by 2.69% (p=0.165) and 1.04% (p=0.710), while on days 24 and 45, it was lower by 2.18% (p=0.209) and 3.76% (p=0.073), 2.88% (p=0.165) and 4.98% (p=0.025). Conclusion Sixty-day exposure to sodium benzoate affects the chemical composition of the regenerate formed in the tibia at various terms, with the percentage of deviations and the duration of changes depending on the dose of sodium benzoate.