28-day repeated dose response study of diglycolic acid: Renal and hepatic effects

The acute oral toxicity of diglycolic acid (DGA) was evaluated. Groups of female rats (n = 8 rats/group) received 28 consecutive daily single doses of 0.3, 1.0, 3.0, 10.0, 30.0, 100.0 or 300.0 mg DGA/kg body weight by gastric intubation. One group of animals served as vehicle control. Tissues and blood serum were collected at necropsy on day 29. Select organs were weighed and fixed in formalin for histopathological analysis. Animals from the 300 mg/kg bw dose group were removed from the study after 5 consecutive days of treatment as a consequence of adverse treatment related effects. The animals in the remaining treatment groups survived the exposure period. No adverse clinical signs were observed throughout the exposure period in the surviving animals. No significant differences from controls were observed for feed and fluid consumption or body weight gain in the surviving animals. Lesions were observed in the kidneys, liver, stomach, intestine, thymus, spleen and bone marrow in rats from the 300 mg/kg dose group and signs of renal tubular regeneration were observed only in the 100 mg/kg dose group. These results suggest that high levels of pure DGA would need to be consumed before renal and other forms of organ toxicity are observed. •The dose response curve for diglycolic acid is extremely steep.•Animals exposed to DGA at 300 mg/kg bw exhibited marked liver and renal toxic effects within 5 days of repeated exposure.•Renal tubule repair was observed at the 100 mg/kg bw dose level.•No obvious toxic response was observed at dose levels below 100 mg/kg bw.