Potassium sorbate and apoptosis genes in liver cancer cells
What it found
In lab tests on human liver cancer cells, potassium sorbate changed the activity of several genes involved in cell death, especially at higher doses.
Sodium metabisulfite did not cause similar changes.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Intrinsic pathway genes
Potassium sorbate increased BAX and decreased BCL2 at high doses (50 and 100 mg/L) at both 24 and 48 hours. This pattern suggests activation of the intrinsic (mitochondrial) apoptotic pathway.
Extrinsic pathway caspases
Potassium sorbate reduced CASP3 and CASP8 expression in a dose-dependent way. At 24 hours, 50 mg/L dropped CASP3 to about 0.46-fold of control, and 100 mg/L to about 0.35-fold. Similar reductions were seen at 48 hours.
Timing of effects
Potassium sorbate effects appeared even at 24 hours and were strongly linked to dose. This contrasts with sodium benzoate, which mainly showed time-dependent changes after 48 hours.
Sodium metabisulfite comparison
Sodium metabisulfite did not significantly change the expression of BAX, BCL2, CASP3, or CASP8 at any tested concentration or time point.
Other findings
Concentration relevance
The most pronounced gene changes occurred at 25 to 100 mg/L, which the authors say exceed typical dietary exposure levels.
What the authors conclude
“These gene-level modulations were most evident at higher concentrations, which exceed typical dietary exposure levels.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate were associated with dose- and time-dependent changes in apoptosis-related genes in HepG2 cells, while sodium metabisulfite showed no measurable changes up to 100 mg/L.
- They state that the most pronounced responses were at 25–100 mg/L, concentrations exceeding typical dietary exposure levels.
- They advise that additional research using primary human hepatocytes is needed to determine whether similar patterns occur in normal liver cells under physiological exposure conditions.
How it was done
The authors wanted to compare how three common preservatives affect apoptosis, the process of programmed cell death, in a human liver cell model. They noted that most studies use doses far above real dietary levels, so they tested a range of concentrations.
They exposed human liver cancer cells (HepG2) to five concentrations of potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, or sodium metabisulfite (6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 mg/L) for 24 or 48 hours. They then measured the activity of four apoptosis-related genes (BAX, BCL2, CASP3, CASP8) using a lab technique called RT-qPCR.
What it can’t tell you
- This study used liver cancer cells grown in a lab, not people or whole animals. The results cannot show what happens in a living human body.
- The cells were exposed for only 24 or 48 hours, so the study cannot show the effects of long-term, low-dose exposure.
- The study measured gene activity, not actual cell death, so it cannot prove that apoptosis occurred.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by University of Pecs (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
- Authors work at
- University of Pécs, Hungary
The paper
- Title
- Synthetic Food Preservatives Modulate Apoptotic Gene Expression in HepG2 Cells: Divergent Effects of Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, and Sodium Metabisulfite
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Pintér M, Macharia JM, Kövesdi OL, et al (2025). Synthetic Food Preservatives Modulate Apoptotic Gene Expression in HepG2 Cells: Divergent Effects of Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, and Sodium Metabisulfite. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu17213466Free full textPubMed 41228538DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error