College of Veterinary Medicine, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, Shanxi, People's Republic of China.
School of Community Health, Faculty of Science, Charles Sturt University, NSW 2800, Australia.
Food Funct. 2021 Feb 15;12(3):1252-1261. doi: 10.1039/d0fo02711a.
Zearalenone (ZEA), present in animal grain feed is produced by Fusarium fungi and this toxin targets ovarian granulosa cells (GCs) to cause reproductive disorders in female animals. Current research on drugs that can rescue ZEA-induced ovarian GC damage is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of scutellarin (Scu) on ZEA-induced apoptosis of mouse ovarian GCs and its mechanism. In one set of experiments, the primary cultured mouse ovarian GCs were co-treated with ZEA and Scu for 24 h. The results showed that Scu significantly alleviated ZEA-induced cell damage, restored cell cycle arrest, and inhibited apoptosis by reducing the ratio of cleaved-caspase-3, cleaved-PARP, and Bax/Bcl-2. In another set of experiments, six-week-old mice were intragastrically administered with 40 mg kg-1 ZEA for 2 h, followed by 100 mg kg-1 Scu for 3 days. It was observed that Scu inhibited ZEA-induced apoptosis and positive signal expression of cleaved-caspase-3 in the ovarian granulosa layer, with the involvement of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. These data provide strong evidence that Scu can be further developed as a potential new therapeutic drug for preventing or treating reproductive toxicity caused by the exposure of animals to ZEA found in the grains of animal feeds.
玉米赤霉烯酮（ZEA）存在于动物谷物饲料中，由镰刀菌真菌产生，这种毒素靶向卵巢颗粒细胞（GCs），导致雌性动物生殖系统紊乱。目前，关于能够挽救 ZEA 诱导的卵巢 GC 损伤的药物的研究有限。本研究旨在探讨野黄芩苷（Scu）对 ZEA 诱导的小鼠卵巢 GC 凋亡的作用及其机制。在一组实验中，将原代培养的小鼠卵巢 GCs 与 ZEA 和 Scu 共同孵育 24 小时。结果表明，Scu 通过降低 cleaved-caspase-3、cleaved-PARP 和 Bax/Bcl-2 的比值，显著减轻 ZEA 诱导的细胞损伤，恢复细胞周期停滞，抑制细胞凋亡。在另一组实验中，将 6 周龄小鼠灌胃给予 40mgkg-1 ZEA 2 小时，然后给予 100mgkg-1 Scu 连续 3 天。观察到 Scu 抑制了 ZEA 诱导的卵巢颗粒层细胞凋亡和 cleaved-caspase-3 的阳性信号表达，涉及线粒体凋亡途径。这些数据为 Scu 可进一步开发为预防或治疗动物饲料中发现的 ZEA 暴露引起的生殖毒性的潜在新型治疗药物提供了有力证据。
