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The fumonisin B mycotoxins (FB1 and FB2) have been purified and characterized from corn cultures of Fusarium moniliforme strain MRC 826. Fumonisin B1 (FB1), the major fumonisin produced in culture, has been shown to be responsible for the major toxicological effects of the fungus in rats, horses and pigs. Recent investigations on the purification of compounds with chromatographic characteristics similar to FB1 have led to the identification of two new fumonisins, FB3 and FB4. Fumonisins A1 and A2, the N-acetyl derivatives of FB1 and FB2 respectively, were also purified and shown to be secondary metabolites of the fungus. Short-term carcinogenesis studies in a rat liver bioassay indicated that over a period of 15 to 20 days, at dietary levels of 0.05-0.1%, FB2 and FB3 closely mimic the toxicological and cancer initiating activity of FB1 and thus could contribute to the toxicological effects of the fungus in animals. In contrast, no biological activity could be detected for FA1 under identical experimental conditions. These studies and others have indicated that the fumonisin B mycotoxins, although lacking mutagenicity in the Salmonella test or genotoxicity in the DNA repair assays in primary hepatocytes, appear to induce resistant hepatocytes similar to many known hepatocarcinogens.

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Dose response studies regarding the cancer initiating potential of fumonisin B1 (FB1) were conducted as a function of time. Feeding studies over 21 days indicated that FB1 induced a feed refusal effect in rats at dietary levels of 250, 500 and 750 mg FB1/kg diet. This effect was overcome after 14 days and the feed intake profiles reached a level which was equivalent to that of the controls after 21 days. Based on the feed intake records the effective dosage level (EDL) for cancer initiation over a period of 21 days is 14.2 < EDL < 30.8 mg FB1/100 g body wt. This is equivalent to a daily intake of 0.7 < EDL < 1.5 mg FB1/100 g body wt. Over a period of 14 days the amount of FB1 required for cancer initiation is 23.3 < EDL < 33.3 mg [corrected] FB1/100 g body wt. The latter values were markedly higher than the EDL values obtained in a gavage study where a fixed amount of FB1 was dosed to rats over 14 days (5.39 < EDL < 11.56 mg FB1/100 g body wt). The dietary level of FB1 required for cancer initiation is dependent on the duration of exposure as a dosage of 29.7 mg/100 mg body wt over 7 days did not initiate cancer whilst a similar dose (30.8 mg/100 body wt) over 21 days did. FB1 effectively delayed hepatocyte cell proliferation when fed at a dietary level of 250 mg FB1/kg (the lowest dietary level tested to effect cancer initiation over 21 days) or by a single gavage dose of 5 mg FB1/100 g body wt 6 h following partial hepatectomy. This inhibitory effect of FB1 on cell proliferation appears to be the reason why the fumonisins are slow cancer initiators. The present data suggest that a balance exists between the compensatory cell proliferation due to the hepatotoxicity induced by FB1 and the inhibitory effect on the subsequent hepatocyte cell proliferation. Therefore, a threshold level for cancer initiation exists which, as a function of time, will be determined by the dosage used and the subsequent inhibitory effect on cell proliferation.