Individual and Combined Effects of Aflatoxin B1 and Sterigmatocystin on Lipid Peroxidation and Glutathione Redox System of Common Carp Liver

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the short-term effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1 100 µg/kg feed) and sterigmatocystin (STC 1000 μg/kg feed) exposure individually and in combination (100 μg AFB1 + 1000 μg STC/kg feed) on the parameters of lipid peroxidation and glutathione redox system both in biochemical and gene expression levels in one-year-old common carp. Lipid peroxidation parameters were slightly affected, as significant differences were observed only in conjugated diene and triene concentrations. Reduced glutathione content decreased more markedly by STC than AFB1 or AFB1+STC, but glutathione peroxidase activity did not change. Expression of gpx4a, gpx4b, gss, and gsr genes was down-regulated due to STC compared to AFB1 or AFB1+STC, while an induction was found as effect of AFB1+STC in the case of gpx4a, but down-regulation for gpx4b as compared to AFB1. Expression of the glutathione biosynthesis regulatory gene, gss, was higher, but glutathione recycling enzyme encoding gene, gsr, was lower as an effect of AFB1+STC compared to AFB1. These results are supported by the changes in the expression of transcription factors encoding genes, nrf2, and keap1. The results revealed that individual effects of AFB1 and STC on different parameters are synergistic or antagonistic in multi-toxin treatment.

Aflatoxin's Toll on Health: Insights into Human and Animal Impact

“…When AFBO combines with cellular macromolecules including proteins, phospholipids, and nucleic acids (Zhuang et al, 2016), it can alter genetic, metabolic, signalling, and cell structural aspects of the cell because of its severe instability. However, an increasing amount of evidence is being gathered that demonstrates how AFB1 causes oxidative stress (OS), which has effects on cell integrity and function that are at least as substantial if not more so (Kövesi et al, 2021). AFB1's several toxicity pathways produce genotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and acute poisoning when they interact with genomic DNA, other functional macromolecules, and immunocompetent cells (Dabuo et al, 2022).…”

Glass bead system to study mycotoxin production of Aspergillus spp. on corn and rice starches

“…Sterigmatocystin (ST) is a precursor of AFs in their biosynthesis, first isolated from Aspergillus versicolor in 1954 (Soriano del Castillo 2007 ). ST is also toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic (Kövesi et al 2021 ; Zhou et al 2023 ; Zingales et al 2020 ), although less than aflatoxin B 1 (AFB1) (Alonso-Jauregui et al 2023 ). The oral LD 50 values of ST and AFB1 for male rats are 60–800 and 5.5 mg/kg body weight, respectively (Tabata 2011 ).…”

In Vivo Genotoxicity and Toxicity Assessment of Sterigmatocystin Individually and in Mixture with Aflatoxin B1

“…STER and AFB1 have been poorly analyzed in binary mixtures in vitro and in vivo [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Moreover, there are no genotoxicity studies exploring AFB1 and STER mixtures in vitro or in vivo.…”

“…However, there were no differences among individual and combined exposure to AFB1 and STER in lipid peroxidation or glutathione redox parameters in carp livers. Contradictory results were obtained in the gene expression analysis; either synergistic or antagonistic effects were hypothesized [ 35 ].…”