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Background: food additives are added to most junk and fast foods, especially those for kids. Sodium nitrite is an inorganic salt with widespread applications in the food industry as a color fixative and preservative in meat and fish. Annatto extract is a natural food color obtained from the outer coatings of the seeds of the Annatto tree (Bixa orellana L.). Monosodium glutamate (MSG), the sodium salt of amino acid glutamate, is a food additive that popularly used all over the world as "flavor enhancer". Aim of the work: this study was aimed to determine the hazardous effects of sodium nitrite, annatto and monosodium glutamate on some physiological parameters in male albino rats. Materials and methods: this study had been done on fourty male albino rats with an average body weight 100-145 g. The animals were divided into four groups; Group 1: control (untreated group), Group 2: sodium nitrite treated group, Group 3: annatto treated group and Group 4: monosodium glutamate treated group. Blood samples were collected, sera were separated and used for estimation of some biochemical parameters (liver enzymes, kidney functions, glucose, protein profile and lipid profile) and hormonal levels [testosterone, T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine)]. Results: the biochemical results showed an increase in the activities of liver enzymes [aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT) and alanine aminotransferase (ALAT)], and the levels of glucose, kidney functions (urea, and creatinine), lipid profile [total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein (LDL-C)] and thyroid hormones [thyroxin (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3)] in all treated groups when compared to the control group. A drop in protein profile (total protein, albumin, globulin and A/G ratio), testosterone hormone and HDL level were observed in the treated groups as compared to the control rats. Conclusion: it could be concluded that some food additives like sodium nitrite, annatto, and monosodium glutamate have extreme effects on liver and kidney functions, protein and lipid profiles and also on thyroid and testosterone hormones. So, it is recommended to minimize the use of these additives to protect young children and mature people from these destructive effects.

Background: food additives are substances used in food industry in order to improve the food's taste, appearance by preserving its flavor and preventing it from souring. Food additives are added to the most junk and fast foods, especially food for kids. Aim of the work: this work was aimed to investigate the adverse effects of some food additives on the biochemical parameters in addition to study the side effects of these food additives in male albino rats. Materials and Methods: this study was performed on twenty four young male albino rats with an average 120-145 g body weight. Animals were divided into four groups (6 /cage); Group I (Control untreated group), Group II (administered orally with sodium nitrite (0.1 mg/kg b.wt./day) and annatto (0.065 mg/kg b.wt./day)), Group III (administered orally with sodium nitrite (0.1 mg/kg b.wt./day) and monosodium glutamate (MSG) (15 mg/kg b.wt./day)) and Group IV (administered orally with annatto (0.065 mg/kg b.wt./day) and monosodium glutamate (15 mg/kg b.wt./day)). Blood samples were collected on the last day of experiment, for biochemical estimations which included levels of serum glucose, total protein (TP), albumin, creatinine, urea, testosterone , thyroid hormones (T3 and T4), activities of AST and ALT in addition to lipid profile. Results: showed marked elevation in levels of fasting glucose, activities of AST, ALT, urea, creatinine, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), VLDL and ratios of TC/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C (risk factors) as well as albumin / globulin ratio and serum thyroid hormones (T3 & T4) accompanied with marked decline in levels of serum total proteins, albumin, globulin, albumin/ creatinine ratio, testosterone and HDL-C in all treated groups in comparison to the control group. There was a significant reduction in the body weight in groups that received (NaNO2 with annatto) and (MSG with NaNO2) while treated rats with (MSG and annatto) showed a significant increase in body weight as compared to control rats. Conclusion: Due to the harmful effects of food additives, the use of these compounds must be limited as it resulted in a vehement disturbance in the biochemical and physiological parameters that was grievously pronounced on many hormones.

Background: the use of food additives is one of the most important problems in the human health nutrition field. Food additives are widely used for various purposes; including preservation, coloring, and sweetening, however, the physiological and biochemical changes may be produced. Aim of the work: was to investigate the protective role of royal jelly (RJ) against abnormalities in metabolic biochemical parameters that induced by these food additives in male albino rats. Materials and Methods: thirty young male albino rats with an average body weight 120-140 g were divided into three groups (10/cage); Group I: served as normal control group, Group II: rats orally administrated with the mixture which consists of sodium nitrite (NaNO2 0.1 mg/kg b.wt./ day), annatto (0.065 mg/kg b.wt./day) and monosodium glutamate (MSG 15 mg/kg b.wt./day) and Group III: rats orally administrated with the previous mixture and then orally administrated with royal jelly (14.28 mg/kg b.wt./day soluble in maize oil). At the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected for biochemical estimations which including levels of serum glucose, creatinine, urea, testosterone, thyroid hormones (T3 and T4), activities of AST and ALT, total protein (TP), albumin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, highdensity lipoprotein (HDL-c) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-c). Results: the present study showed marked elevation in levels of fasting blood glucose, activities of AST, ALT, levels of serum urea, creatinine, TC, TG, LDL-c, VLDLand ratios of TC/HDL-c and LDL-c/HDL-c (risk factors) as well as albumin /globulin ratio and serum thyroid hormones (T3&T4) accompanied with significant reduction in the body weight, serum total proteins, albumin, globulin, albumin/creatinine, testosterone and HDL-C concentrations in the group that administrated with the mixture which consists of (NaNO2, MSG and annatto) as compared to control rats. While administration with royal jelly significantly ameliorated the disturbed biochemical parameters and showed significant improvement in most of these parameters. Conclusion: it could be concluded that royal jelly offers a therapeutic advantage that minimizes the metabolic abnormalities and biochemical changes which induced by these food additives.

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