Mycotoxin detoxifiers attenuate deoxynivalenol-induced pro-inflammatory barrier insult in porcine enterocytes as an in vitro evaluation model of feed mycotoxin reduction.

Deoxynivalenol (DON), the most prevalent mycotoxin worldwide, leads to economic losses for animal food production. Swine is a most sensitive domestic animal to DON due to rapid absorption and low detoxification by gut microbiota. Specifically, DON can severely damage pig intestinal tissue by disrupting the intestinal barrier and inducing inflammatory responses. We evaluated the effects of several mycotoxin detoxifiers including bentonites, yeast cell wall components, and mixture-typed detoxifier composed of mineral, microorganisms, and phytogenic substances on DON-insulted intestinal barrier and pro-inflammatory responses using in vitro porcine enterocyte culture model. DON-induced disruption of the in vitro gut barrier was attenuated by all three mycotoxin detoxifiers in dose-dependent manners. These mycotoxin detoxifiers also suppressed DON-induced pro-inflammatory chemokine expression to different degrees, which was mediated by downregulation of mitogen-activated kinases and early growth response-1. Of note, the mixture-typed detoxifier was the most prominent mitigating agent at the cellular levels whereas the high dose of bentonite clay also had suppressive action against DON-induced pro-inflammatory insult. The in vitro porcine enterocyte-based assessment of intestinal barrier integrity and inflammatory signals provides sensitive and simplified alternative bioassay of feed additives such as detoxifiers against enteropathogenic mycotoxins with comprehensive mechanistic confirmation.