Minimal Concentrations of Deoxynivalenol Reduce Cytokine Production in Individual Lymphocyte Populations in Pigs.

Karolina Hlavová,Kamil Šťastný,Monika Vícenová,Martin Faldyna,Hana Štěpánová,Ján Matiašovic,Lenka Levá,Nikola Hodkovicová

doi:10.3390/toxins12030190

Abstract

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin frequently found in cereals, and pigs are one of the most sensitive farm species to DON. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of DON in very low doses on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and on particular lymphocyte subpopulations. The cells were exposed to 1, 10 and 100 ng/mL of DON and lymphocyte viability, proliferation, and cytokine (Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-8, IL-17, Interferon (IFN) γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α production were studied. Cells exposed to DON for 5 days in concentrations of 1 and 10 ng/mL showed higher viability compared to control cells. After 18 h of DON (100 ng/mL) exposure, a significantly lower proliferation after mitogen stimulation was observed. In contrast, an increase of spontaneous proliferation induced by DON (100 ng/mL) was detected. After DON exposure, the expression of cytokine genes decreased, with the exception of IL-1β and IL-8, which increased after 18 h exposure to 100 ng/mL of DON. Among lymphocyte subpopulations, helper T-cells and γδ T-cells exhibiting lower production of IL-17, IFNγ and TNFα were most affected by DON exposure (10 ng/mL). These findings show that subclinical doses of DON lead to changes in immune response.

Highlights

The toxin deoxynivalenol (DON), formerly named vomitoxin, belongs to the group B of trichothecene mycotoxins produced by Fusarium molds (e.g., Fusarium graminearum)
These results indicate that short-term exposure to DON does not affect the viability of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)
A similar decrease in cytokine production in porcine spleen cells after DON-contaminated food ingestion was described by Grenier et al [48] and in accordance with these results, we focused on lymphocytes, as they are the major source of these cytokines [49,50,51,52]

Summary

Introduction

The toxin deoxynivalenol (DON), formerly named vomitoxin, belongs to the group B of trichothecene mycotoxins produced by Fusarium molds (e.g., Fusarium graminearum). DON is a tetracyclic sesquiterpenoid which contains a keto group at carbon 8 of the parent epoxytrichothecene nucleus. It is detectable as a contaminant of cereal grains such as wheat, barley and corn [1]; thereby it is the most frequently occurring mycotoxin in cereal-based food and feed in Europe and America [2]. DON is of high importance in farm animal feeding because of its frequent occurrence in cereal grains and its toxic effects at low doses [3,4]. Compared to polygastric animals and birds, which have a high bacterial content in the initial parts of their gastrointestinal tract, swine appear to be considerably more vulnerable to DON exposure. Acute exposure to high levels of DON causes vomiting in Toxins 2020, 12, 190; doi:10.3390/toxins12030190 www.mdpi.com/journal/toxins

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