Thirteen-week repeated dose toxicity of rice bran glycosphingolipid in Wistar Hannover (GALAS) rats.

Rice bran glycosphingolipid (RBGSL), one of the glycosphingolipids (GSLs), has been widely used as a food additive, a base of cosmetics, and so on. As a part of the safety assessment of RBGSL, a 13-week repeated dose toxicity study was performed in Wistar Hannover (GALAS) rats. Male and female rats were divided into 4 groups consisting of 8 animals and were given 0, 60, 250, and 1000 mg/kg BW of RBGSL orally 5 times weekly for 13 weeks. During the experiment, no deaths were observed in any groups, and there were no remarkable changes in general appearance, body weight, food and water consumption, hematological and serum biochemical parameters, organ weight and histopathological findings between the control and treated groups. On the basis of these data, the no-observed-adverse effect level (NOAEL) of RBGSL in Wistar Hannover rats was considered to be 1000 mg/kg BW/ day or more.