A 90-day toxicology study of high-amylose transgenic rice grain in Sprague–Dawley rats

A transgenic rice line (TRS) with high amylose level has been developed by antisense RNA inhibition of starch branching enzymes. Compositional analysis of TRS demonstrated that the content of resistant starch (RS) was significantly higher compared to conventional non-transgenic rice. High level of RS is an important raw material in food industry and has various physiological effects for human health. In order to provide the reliable theory basis for field release of TRS rice, we evaluated the potential health effects of long-term consumption of the TRS. The 90-day toxicology feeding experiment was conducted in Sprague–Dawley rats fed with diets containing 70% of either TRS rice flour, its near-isogenic rice flour or the control diet. The clinical performance variables (body weight, body weight gain and food consumption) were measured and pathological responses (hematological parameters and serum chemistry at the midterm and the completion of the experiment, urinalysis profile and serum sex hormone response at the completion of the experiment) were performed. Besides, clinical signs, relative organ weights and microscopic observations were also compared between TRS group and its near-isogenic rice group. The combined data indicates that high-amylose TRS grain is as safe as the conventional non-transgenic rice for rat consumption.