Pathological effects of the mushroom toxin α-amanitin on BALB/c mice

The pathological effects of α-amanitin on BALB/c mice after receiving intravenous injection were evaluated by RP-HPLC and mouse genome oligonucleotide microarray. The content of α-amanitin in Amanita virosa was about 2833.8 μg/g dry fruiting body. The liver and kidneys showed critical pathological changes after α-amanitin poisoning, and sera BUN, Crea, ALT, AST, TBIL and DBIL were the sensitive markers. The compound α-amanitin was detected in liver and kidney tissue homogenates by RP-HPLC after 48 h. The results of mouse genome oligonucleotide microarray showed 146 genes’ expression changed, which formed the alternant network. The expression of 66 genes decreased, while 80 ones increased with more than two-fold differential expression after 48 h. The compound α-amanitin influenced not only RNA polymerase II, but also the expression of its associated genes. The application of mouse oligo chip provided valuable data for further understanding the biological properties and molecular pathogenesis of α-amanitin, also might be helpful for screening the curative drug for α-amanitin intoxication.