Effects of deoxynivalenol (vomitoxin) on the humoral and cellular immunity of mice.
Sublethal doses (0.00, 0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 mg/kg b.w./day) of vomitoxin (deoxynivalenol; DON) were studied for their effects on humoral and cellular immunity and serum proteins of inbred, male Swiss Webster mice in a series of 4 separate experiments. Vomitoxin was added to basal diet (less than the detection limit, i.e., less than 0.05 micrograms of vomitoxin per g of feed) and administered to mice for 5 weeks beginning at 21 days of age. Mice in experiment 2 were fed the basal diet for 40 days in addition to the 5-week treatment with vomitoxin. The 1.00 mg/kg dose of vomitoxin resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the serum levels of alpha 1 and alpha 2-globulins, an increase in total serum albumin, and a reduction in feed consumption and body weight gain compared to the control group. The 0.50 mg/kg dose of vomitoxin resulted in significantly reduced serum levels of alpha 2- and beta-globulins while a significant reduction of feed consumption was evident only during Week 4. Similarly, body weight gain in this group of mice was significantly reduced during Week 2 but increased to normal levels during Week 3 and remained parallel to the control for Week 4 and 5. Both levels (0.50 and 1.00 mg/kg) of vomitoxin resulted in a reduced, dose-related, time-to-death interval following a challenge with L. monocytogenes and increased proliferative capacity of splenic lymphocyte cultures stimulated with the phytohemagglutinin P (PHA-P) mitogen compared to the control group of mice. The 0.25 mg/kg dose of vomitoxin did not have any significant effects on the parameters studied. A reasonable estimation of a 'no effect' level for immunologic effects in mice based on these and previous immunological studies would seem to be between 0.25 and 0.50 mg/kg b.w./day.
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000187:drug effects*; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D006462:Hemolytic Plaque Technique; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000187:drug effects*; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000187:drug effects; D014255:Trichothecenes / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*
D001798:Blood Proteins; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; D014255:Trichothecenes; C007262:deoxynivalenol