Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry for Metabolite Profiling of Japanese Black Cattle Naturally Contaminated with Zearalenone and Sterigmatocystin.

Katsuki Toda,Osamu Yamato,Yasuo Fushimi,Missaka Wijayagunawardane,Emiko Kokushi,Johanna Fink-Gremmels,Seiichi Uno,Masayasu Taniguchi,Ayaka Shiiba,Chunhua Zhang,Hiroshi Hasunuma,Mitsuhiro Takagi

doi:10.3390/toxins9100294

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the metabolic profile of cattle fed with or without zearalenone (ZEN) and sterigmatocystin (STC)-contaminated diets using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolomics approach. Urinary samples were collected from individual animals (n = 6 per herd) from fattening female Japanese Black (JB) cattle herds (23 months old, 550–600 kg). Herd 1 had persistently high urinary ZEN and STC concentrations due to the presence of contaminated rice straw. Herd 2, the second female JB fattening herd (23 months old, 550–600 kg), received the same dietary feed as Herd 1, with non-contaminated rice straw. Urine samples were collected from Herd 1, two weeks after the contaminated rice straw was replaced with uncontaminated rice straw (Herd 1N). Identified metabolites were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) and ANOVA. The PCA revealed that the effects on cattle metabolites depended on ZEN and STC concentrations. The contamination of cattle feed with multiple mycotoxins may alter systemic metabolic processes, including metabolites associated with ATP generation, amino acids, glycine-conjugates, organic acids, and purine bases. The results obtained from Herd 1N indicate that a two-week remedy period was not sufficient to improve the levels of urinary metabolites, suggesting that chronic contamination with mycotoxins may have long-term harmful effects on the systemic metabolism of cattle.

Highlights

Contamination of agricultural commodities with mycotoxins, which are secondary metabolites of fungi, is a major problem in agriculture and livestock production worldwide [1]
GC/MS Analysis of Urine Samples Derived from Cattle Herds
We used GC/MS to identify 55 non-targeted endogenous metabolites related to the metabolism of ATP generation, amino acids, thyroid hormones, neurotransmitters, glycine-conjugation, organic acids, and purine bases, as well as dietary plant components

Summary

Introduction

Contamination of agricultural commodities with mycotoxins, which are secondary metabolites of fungi, is a major problem in agriculture and livestock production worldwide [1]. Several in vivo reports on the acute and chronic effects of mycotoxicosis have been published. We reported the presence of mycotoxin contamination in the dietary feed (rice straw) of a cattle herd by demonstrating the presence of zearalenone (ZEN) and sterigmatocystin (STC), which are produced by two groups of fungi, Fusarium spp. and Aspergillus spp., and their secondary metabolites in urine using our established liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) monitoring technique [4,5]. We suggested that monitoring ZEN and STC levels in urine is a practical and useful way of evaluating the contamination status of a cattle herd and assessing the efficiency of mycotoxin adsorbent, which is supplemented in dietary feeds to impair the intestinal adsorption of mycotoxins [3,4,6]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion