Evaluation of immunologic effect of Enniatin A and quantitative determination in feces, urine and serum on treated Wistar rats

• Subchronic assay with ENN A on Wistar rats.
• LC–MS/MS method and extraction of ENN A in biological matrices.
• ENN A in serum samples were founded from the second week of the experiment.
• CD4+ cells were presented in greater percentages compared to control (p ≤ 0.001).
• CD8+ cells decreased significantly compared to control (p ≤ 0.001).

Study of dietary supplementation with ENN A mycotoxin during 28 days of exposure time on Wistar rats to determinate its levels in serum, urine and feces and, to evaluate the immunologic effect in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) is presented. The first method for ENN A extraction, determination and detection by LC–MS/MS in serum, urine and feces samples is reported. ENN A food dose administrated was detected in serum samples and influenced lymphocyte phenotyping. Levels in serum were founded from the second week of the experiment; reaching values of 4.76 μg/ml on the fourth week, which corresponds to 3.24 μg/ml in blood. PBL as T helper (CD4+) were presented in greater percentages compared to control (p ≤ 0.001), while T cytotoxic (CD8+) decreased significantly compared to control (p ≤ 0.001). ENN A treatment significantly increased CD4+/CD3+ and CD4+/CD8+ ratios but significantly decreased CD8+/CD3+ ratio. CD4+/CD8+ ratio was 2.94:1, indicating that PBL surface antigen expression and immune status in Wistar rats treated were impaired by the ENN A mycotoxin.