Effects of zearalenone and its derivatives on the innate immune response of swine

Zearalenone (ZEN) is an estrogenic mycotoxin produced by several fungi of Fusarium genera. As it can contaminate food and feed it is a risk factor from both public health and agricultural perspectives. In this in vitro study, we compared the effects of zearalenone (ZEN) and some of its derivatives: α-zearalenol (α-ZOL); β-zearalenol (β-ZOL) and zearalanone (ZAN) on several neutrophil functions: proliferation, cytokine synthesis and oxidative stress in a porcine PMN model. The concentrations of toxins necessary to inhibit viability, in a MTT test, by 50% were: 73.4 μM for ZEN; 59.0 μM for α-ZOL; 56.8 μM for β-ZOL and 53.1 μM for ZAN, with ZEN being less toxic than its derivatives. A significant increase of O2− synthesis compared to the control, as shown by NBT reduction, was observed at 1 μM concentration only for β-ZOL and ZAN, while at 10 μM, the ZEN derivatives (α-ZOL, β-ZOL, ZAN) induced a significant decrease of the IL-8 synthesis in swine PMNs with 49.2%, 45.6% and 45.1% respectively, compared to the control. Although, the precise mechanism of action of these toxins still remains unknown, the results of this study suggest that ZEN and its derivatives may have divergent effects on important parameters of swine innate immunity: cell proliferation, IL-8 and O2− synthesis. Also ZEN derivatives are more toxic than ZEN.