## 4 Discussion
Our values are, however, in accordance with those of other studies regarding this parameter in FVB/n mice and do not raise suspicion of renal impairment [28; 40]. As an increase in urea levels can occur in settings unrelated to renal disease, creatinine is seen as a more reliable marker of renal function [41]. Although there was a slight increase in creatinine levels, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups. The left kidney's relative weight was significantly higher in EE12 and EE24 compared with that of the control group, but, as no kidney lesions were registered by the histological analysis, this increase in the relative weight and biochemical parameters may be unrelated to renal function impairment. It is also crucial to note that the EE supplementation was chronic, i.e., the animals consumed the extract in their drinking water for a lengthy period of time without interruption, which may not occur if it is incorporated into a product that is not the consumer's whole diet. As mentioned above, elderberry extract supplementation did not cause hepatotoxicity at the biochemical level, as the hepatic transaminases (ALAT and ASAT) showed no significant statistical differences. These results are corroborated by another study that used an extract of _S. nigra_[42]. In terms of the comet assay results, our findings show that this extract did not appear to be genotoxic. Interestingly, when the Fpg enzyme was added, there were statistically significant differences between the control group and the two highest concentrations. As such, this leads us to believe that this extract, although not antigenotoxic, may protect against oxidative DNA damage. These findings are consistent with the literature [13, 43], which indicates that _S. nigra_ has antimutagenic and antigenotoxic effects, mainly due to its antioxidant properties. [PERSON] et al. (2016) reported that, in a non-transformed, non-tumorigenic colon cell line (NCM460), an _S. nigra_ extract was capable of protecting these cells against oxidative stress's detrimental effects to DNA [44]. In another study, [PERSON] and collaborators employed an _S. nigra_ aqueous extract for treating human colon carcinoma cells (RKO) and observed that this extract at concentrations of 200 and 400 \(\upmu\)g/mL neither protected RKO cells from the oxidative activity induced by H2O2 nor triggered DNA repair activity [45]. The authors only observed a reduction in DNA damage of around 20% when the cells were treated for 24 h. The same was not observed when the cells were treated for 48 h; however, the results were not shown to be significantly different from those of the control group at both times [45]. Our findings regarding NSSPpg indicate that this extract, particularly the two highest concentrations (EE24 and EE48), had a strong capacity for repairing oxidative DNA damage. The group treated with a higher concentration of extract (EE48) also exhibited increased SOD activity, the primary intrinsic antioxidant enzyme, in the hepatic and renal tissue, confirming the stimulation of antioxidant activity previously reported for anthocyanins in the extracts of _S. nigra_[46, 47]. However, CAT activity decreased in the same group only at the hepatic level. This discrepancy in activities recorded for SOD and CAT has been previously reported between tissues for the effect of anthocyanins [48] and in the same tissue attributed to different forms of modulation [49] that need further studies to understand the antioxidant mechanisms of these compounds. Moreover, the remaining parameters of oxidative stress did not vary significantly, which confirms the safety of the use of this extract at the tested doses. Although synthetic food colorants are frequently used in the food industry, consuming them continuously could be toxic and have several side effects [50]. For this reason, natural origin colorants have gradually taken their place, adding potential health benefits as well [51].