Effect of chronic fg-TiO2 (also called E171) exposure on hepatic gene expression in male mice fed normal- or western-diet

We evaluated how daily exposure to fg-TiO2 at human-relevant dietary levels impacts gut microbiota and its consequence in the occurrence and/or aggravation of metabolic disorders under both standard and high-fat diet (HFD) conditions Eight week-old female C57BL/6J mice (F0) from Janvier Labs received control or fg-TiO2-containing food pellets.

For fg-TiO2-containing diets, the tested compound was added to food pellets to reach 10 mg fg-TiO2/kg bw/d as a target dose of exposure. After 40 days of treatment, F0 female mice were housed with F0 males and vaginal plug occurrence was monitored to confirm mating and gestation day 0. F1 pups from delivered litters were then submitted to their F0 respective experimental condition (F1 from F0 control group are unexposed to the food additive) during an overall exposure of 21 weeks (3 weeks from birth to weaning, 2 weeks to reach adult age and 16 weeks of exposure at adulthood).