Dyes And Preservatives Of Drugs Can Be Dangerous To The Body

Dyes and preservatives of drugs can be dangerous to the body

It is possible that inert substances are responsible for some of the drug's side effects.

Photo: Michael Longmire / Unsplash

In addition to the active ingredients, the composition of medicines includes auxiliary components, for example, preservatives and dyes. It is believed that these substances are inert, that is, they do not act on the body. A new study, published in Science, showed that their effects may have been underestimated.

The safety of many additional drug components has been determined in animal studies or simply as a result of historical experience. Apparently, all these substances really cannot cause acute reactions in the human body. But there is practically no information about their long-term effects on the body and long-term interactions with drugs.

To fill this data gap, scientists analyzed over 3,000 ancillary components. They first carried out a computer analysis of the potential interactions of these substances with human proteins. This allowed us to narrow the circle and select 38 potentially hazardous substances.

Next, the scientists looked at how, in the laboratory, selected auxiliary components interact with 134 human proteins. They report that the strength of the effect of certain substances was unexpected. Experiments suggest that some of the components can, in theory, elicit a measurable physiological response in humans. That is, they may be responsible for some of the side effects of the drugs.

“Our study had to verify and clarify isolated reports of unexpected physiological reactions to the excipients of certain drugs. It was not so unexpected to discover new properties in under-explored substances. But it was surprising to find out how powerful certain molecules are, especially given the relatively high concentrations of these substances in the drugs,”said Joshua Pottel of the University of California, San Francisco, lead author of the study. …

The study of the auxiliary components of drugs is at an early stage, therefore it is impossible to make precise statements about their toxicity. Future research will answer this question.