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. 2021 Oct 22;13(11):750.
doi: 10.3390/toxins13110750.

Biomarkers of Deoxynivalenol, Citrinin, Ochratoxin A and Zearalenone in Pigs after Exposure to Naturally Contaminated Feed Close to Guidance Values

Agnieszka Tkaczyk  1 , Piotr Jedziniak  1 , Łukasz Zielonka  2 , Michał Dąbrowski  2 , Piotr Ochodzki  3 , Adrianna Rudawska  1
Affiliations
Free PMC article

Biomarkers of Deoxynivalenol, Citrinin, Ochratoxin A and Zearalenone in Pigs after Exposure to Naturally Contaminated Feed Close to Guidance Values

Agnieszka Tkaczyk et al. Toxins (Basel). .
Free PMC article

Abstract

This study applied multi-mycotoxin liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometric detection (LC-MS/MS) methods to determine the biomarkers of exposure in urine and serum samples from a dose-response study with pigs. The 24 studied pigs were divided into three groups: a control and two experimental ones (with different levels of feed contamination). They were exposed to feed prepared from cereals contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), ochratoxin A (OTA) and citrinin (CIT) for 14 days. After that, both experimental groups received the same feed as the control group for the next 14 days to determine the kinetics of the disappearance of mycotoxin biomarkers. Urine samples were collected daily in the morning and blood samples-eight-times during the experiment. The study reported herein was the first prolonged exposure experiment for multiple mycotoxins like OTA and CIT in pigs. The urinary and serum levels of all biomarkers correlated well with the respective toxin intake; thereby demonstrating that they are suitable biomarkers of exposure in pigs. Urine is a good candidate to monitor DON, ZEN, OTA, CIT exposure while serum may be used to monitor DON, OTA and CIT. Additionally, OTA has even been quantified in both matrices in the experimental groups two weeks after changing the contaminated feed back to the control, this result differed from those produced by the other mycotoxins which were only quantified during the first two weeks. Therefore both matrices are suitable candidates to monitor prolonged OTA exposure in pigs.

Keywords: citrinin; deoxynivalenol; multi-mycotoxin LC-MS/MS method; mycotoxin biomarkers; ochratoxin A; pig’s exposure; zearalenone.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean urinary deoxynivalenol (DON) biomarker (DON and deepoxy-deoxynivalenol (DOM-1)) levels quantified during the experiment—14 days of experimental diets (C-control group, D1 and D2 group) and after substituting the contaminated diets for the control diet (day 15–28).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean urinary zearalenone (ZEN) biomarker (ZEN and alpha-zearalenol (α-ZEL)) levels quantified during the experiment—14 days of experimental diets (C-control group, D1 and D2 group) and after substituting the contaminated diets for the control diet (day 15–28).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean urinary citrinine (CIT) biomarker (CIT and dihydrocitrinone (DH-CIT)) levels quantified during the experiment—14 days of experimental diets (C-control group, D1 and D2 group) and after substituting the contaminated diets for the control diet (day 15–28).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean serum DON levels quantified during the experiment—14 days of experimental diets (C-control group, D1 and D2 group) and after substituting the contaminated diets for the control diet (day 15–28).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mean urinary CIT biomarker (CIT and DH-CIT) levels quantified during the experiment—14 days of experimental diets (C-control group, D1 and D2 group) and after substituting the contaminated diets for the control diet (day 15–28).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Mean urinary ochratoxin A (OTA) biomarker (OTA and ochratoxin alpha (OTα)) levels quantified during the experiment—14 days of experimental diets (C-control group, D1 and D2 group) and after substituting the contaminated diets for the control diet (day 15–28).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Mean serum OTA levels quantified during the experiment—14 days of experimental diets (C-control group, D1 and D2 group) and after substituting the contaminated diets for the control diet (day 15–28).
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