BHA and blood vessel cell damage in lab and animal studies
What it found
In lab tests on human and mouse blood vessel cells, BHA reduced cell survival, movement and growth, and in mice it raised a measure of artery stiffness and reduced artery relaxation.
The authors link these effects to a type of cell death called ferroptosis.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Cell survival
BHA reduced the viability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells and mouse brain microvascular endothelial cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner.
Cell movement and growth
BHA inhibited the migration and proliferation of vascular endothelial cells.
Ferroptosis signals
In endothelial cells, the ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1 reversed the BHA-induced increase in Fe 2+ and malonaldehyde levels.
Lysosome changes
Acridine orange staining showed that BHA increased lysosomal permeability.
Protein levels
BHA increased TFEB expression and decreased GPX4, xCT and FTH1 expression. Knocking down TFEB reversed these effects.
Artery function in mice
In live mice, BHA caused elevated pulse wave velocity and reduced acetylcholine-dependent vascular endothelial diastole.
What the authors conclude
“BHA degrades GPX4, xCT, and FTH1 through activation of the TFEB-mediated lysosomal pathway and promotes ferroptosis, ultimately leading to vascular endothelial cell injury.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that BHA degrades GPX4, xCT, and FTH1 through activation of the TFEB-mediated lysosomal pathway and promotes ferroptosis, ultimately leading to vascular endothelial cell injury.
How it was done
BHA is one of the most commonly used antioxidants and is widely used in food, but whether it causes vascular damage has not been clearly studied.
The study exposed human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and mouse brain microvascular endothelial cells (BEND3) to BHA, and also ran experiments in live mice.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- These are lab and animal studies. They can't show what happens in people who eat BHA in food.
- The doses used may not match the amounts people would take in from food.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
- Authors work at
- Department of Cardiology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, China
The paper
- Title
- Butylated hydroxyanisole induces vascular endothelial injury via TFEB-mediated degradation of GPX4 and FTH1
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Zhan Y, Zhang Y (2024). Butylated hydroxyanisole induces vascular endothelial injury via TFEB-mediated degradation of GPX4 and FTH1. Food and chemical toxicology. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2024.114682PubMed 38657941DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error