Influence of a GMO-containing diet on pancreatic acinar cells of adult mice: effects of a short-term diet reversion

Previous studies on mice fed on a genetically modified (GM) soybean showed that changes in zymogen synthesis and processing as well as in cell nuclear activity take place in pancreatic acinar cells. In this study, we aimed at elucidating whether these modifications can be reversed. To do this, mice fed on GM soybean from their weaning to the third month of age were administered a diet containing control soybean for one additional month. In parallel, to investigate the influence of GM soybean on adult individuals, 3 month-old mice fed from their weaning on control soybean were administered a GM-containing diet for one month. Morphometry, cytochemistry and immunocytochemistry were used to analyse pancreatic acinar cells at light and electron microscopy. Our results demonstrate that a one month-diet reversion in adult mice can influence some morpho-functional features of pancreatic acinar cells, restoring in GM-fed mice some characteristics typical of controls and inducing in control mice modifications similar to those observed in animals fed on GM soybean from weaning. This implies that the modifications related to GM soybean are potentially reversible, but also that some modifications are inducible in adult organisms in relatively short time. Although the mechanisms responsible for such modifications still remain unidentified, these results confirm the need of further investigations to go deeper the possible consequences of GM food consumption.