Published Paper Details:

The small intestine is exposed to Malachite green (MG), a synthetic dye, commonly restricted to use as food colorant mainly through MG colored foods and vegetables. MG possesses toxicity and it is used as insecticides in aquatic system. So, on consumption of MG, it might exert its toxicity and impair the functioning of human health. However, the toxic effect of MG, especially on the motor function of duodenal visceral smooth muscle, has not been studied till date. Thus, the aim of the study was to investigate the potential toxic effects of MG on duodenal visceral smooth muscle (dVSM) contraction ex vivo in rat model. The results showed that duodenal motility was significantly decreased when duodenal segments were exposed to MG in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, we demonstrated a significant counteraction of the inhibition of the contractions of the dVSM induced by MG in L-NAME and Methylene Blue pre-treated duodenal preparations in order to examine the involvement of inhibitory nitrergic myenteric efferents in the MG induced contractile activity of the dVSM. Therefore, it can be suggested that MG inhibits the contractions smooth muscles of the duodenal viscera, probably by increasing the activity of intrinsic myenteric nitrergic efferents through NO-mediated sGC signaling pathway.