Oral exposure of pigs to the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol does not modulate the hepatic albumin synthesis during a LPS-induced acute-phase reaction.

The sensitivity of pigs to deoxynivalenol (DON) might be influenced by systemic inflammation (SI) which impacts liver. Besides following acute-phase proteins, our aim was to investigate both the hepatic fractional albumin (ALB) synthesis rate (FSR) and the ALB concentration as indicators of ALB metabolism in presence and absence of SI induced by LPS via pre- or post-hepatic venous route. Each infusion group was pre-conditioned either with a control diet (CON, 0.12 mg DON/kg diet) or with a DON-contaminated diet (DON, 4.59 mg DON/kg diet) for 4 wk. A depression of ALB FSR was observed 195 min after LPS challenge, independent of feeding group or LPS application route, which was not paralleled by a down-regulated ALB mRNA expression but by a reduced availability of free cysteine. The drop in ALB FSR only partly explained the plasma ALB concentrations which were more depressed in the DON-pre-exposed groups, suggesting that ALB levels are influenced by further mechanisms. The abundances of haptoglobin, C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A, pig major acute-phase protein, fibrinogen and LPS-binding protein mRNA were up-regulated upon LPS stimulation but not accompanied by increases in the plasma concentrations of these proteins, pointing at an imbalance between synthesis and consumption.

Systemic and local effects of the Fusarium toxin deoxynivalenol (DON) are not alleviated by dietary supplementation of humic substances (HS).

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a control diet (CON) or a Fusarium toxin contaminated diet (FUS) with and without HS (CON-HS and FUS-HS, respectively) on pigs during a 10-week growth trial starting at 35.1±3.2 kg live weight (n=12/group). Moreover, 2 additional choice feeding groups were included to test the ability of the pigs to differentiate between the CON and FUS diet. Feeding the FUS diets (∼3 mg DON/kg) did not depress feed intake irrespective of HS addition. However, the pigs of the choice feeding groups recognised the FUS diets and acquired an ability to avoid these diets. DON residues were detected exclusively in the blood of pigs exposed to the FUS diets (7-21 ng/mL) but their levels were not affected by HS, suggesting their inefficiency in preventing DON absorption. While zonula occludens-1 protein expression and villus height in jejunum and ileum were not compromised by FUS feeding, the jejunal crypts were significantly deepened at 31% compared to the CON group. These changes had no consequences for nutrient digestibility or LPS levels in systemic blood (0.02-0.08 EU/mL). As portal LPS levels were not measured, FUS effects on intestinal LPS translocation cannot be excluded.