Alterations of brain and intestine serotonin levels in hamsters pretreated with dietary aflatoxin.

Male Syrian hamsters were fed 30.3 ppm mixed aflatoxins (AFT) for a 45-day period followed by a 123-day recovery period. Tests made at the end of the recovery period indicated a reduction in whole brain and duodenal serotonin and a slight but not statistically significant elevation in brain 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid. There was a high incidence of liver cell hyperplasia in the aflatoxin fed animals. Following toxin withdrawal, the experimental animals showed significant gains in body weight but they never attained a body weight equal to the controls. Aflatoxin apparently interferes with serotonin production and the return to normal body weight even after withdrawal of the animal from the contaminated diet.