Food additives are widely used in various food products to preserve the taste, color, and other qualities. However, if they are used improperly or exceed the standard, they will cause damage to the human body. Sulfite is a commonly used food additive to prevent oxidation from deteriorating the nutrients in foods, it has been widely used as a bleaching agent in the food industry for a long time. In this study, human hepatocytes L02 cells were used as a model cell line to evaluate the toxicity of sodium sulfite. The cell morphology and cell proliferation were affected by sodium sulfite treatment, and apoptosis was detected. Transcriptome sequencing showed 97 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the experimental group (IC50) and the control group (MOCK), and 27 differentially expressed genes related to cell apoptosis, metabolism and inflammation were selected for validation by qPCR. Among them, 13 significantly upregulated genes and 14 significantly downregulated genes were identified by qPCR. The results showed that with increase of sodium sulfite concentration, the morphology of L02 changed, cell proliferation and activity were inhibited, and sodium sulfite caused apoptosis in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The resulting toxic mechanism inhibits proliferation, damages the mitochondrial integrity, and promotes apoptosis.

食品添加剂广泛用于各种食品中，以保持口味，颜色和其他品质。但是，如果使用不当或超过标准，将对人体造成伤害。亚硫酸盐是一种常用的食品添加剂，可防止氧化作用破坏食品中的营养成分，长期以来一直广泛用作食品工业中的漂白剂。在这项研究中，人类肝细胞L02细胞被用作模型细胞系，以评估亚硫酸钠的毒性。亚硫酸钠处理影响细胞形态和增殖，并检测其凋亡。转录组测序显示实验组（IC50）和对照组（MOCK）之间有97个差异表达基因（DEG），还有27个与细胞凋亡相关的差异表达基因，通过qPCR选择代谢和炎症进行验证。其中，通过qPCR鉴定出13个显着上调的基因和14个显着下调的基因。结果表明，随着亚硫酸钠浓度的增加，L02的形态发生改变，细胞增殖和活性受到抑制，亚硫酸钠引起的细胞凋亡呈浓度和时间依赖性。产生的毒性机制抑制增殖，破坏线粒体完整性，并促进细胞凋亡。亚硫酸钠引起的细胞凋亡呈浓度和时间依赖性。产生的毒性机制抑制增殖，破坏线粒体完整性，并促进细胞凋亡。亚硫酸钠引起的细胞凋亡呈浓度和时间依赖性。产生的毒性机制抑制增殖，破坏线粒体完整性，并促进细胞凋亡。