Estrogenic, androgenic, and genotoxic activities of zearalenone and deoxynivalenol in in vitro bioassays including exogenous metabolic activation

In this study, ZEN, α-zearalenol (α-ZEL), DON, 3-acetyl DON, and 15-acetyl DON were evaluatedin vitro for hormone receptor –mediated effects (estrogen receptor [ER] and androgen receptor [AR]) and genotoxicity (micronucleus assay) in the presence of an exogenous metabolic activation system (MAS). The ER bioassay proved to be a highly sensitive method to detect low concentrations of the ZEN compounds (EC10 values of 31.4  pM for ZEN, 3.59 pM for α-ZEL) in aqueous solutions. In the presence of the MAS, reduced estrogenic effects were observed for both ZEN compounds (EC10 values of 6.47  × 103 pM for ZEN, 1.55 × 102 pM for α-ZEL). Of the DON compounds, only 3-acetyl DON was estrogenic (EC10 of 0.31  µM), and the effect was removed in the presence of the MAS. Anti-androgenic effects of the ZEN compounds and androgenic effects of the DON compounds were detected in the micromolar range. No induction of genotoxicity was detected for ZEN or DON in the presence of the MAS. Our study highlighted that inclusion of exogenous MAS is a useful tool to detect biological effects of metabolites inin vitro bioassays.

Source: Mycotoxin Research - April 8, 2024 Category: Toxicology Source Type: research