Rimando A M, Porter J K
Richard B. Russell Agricultural Research Center, Toxicology and Mycotoxin Research Unit, Athens, Georgia 30613, USA.
J Toxicol Environ Health. 1997 Feb 21;50(3):275-84. doi: 10.1080/009841097160483.
Fusaric acid (FA) is produced by several Fusarium species that commonly infect cereal grains and other agricultural commodities. FA in the feed of nursing dams is lactationally transferred to the suckling offspring and alters serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5HT) in the pineal gland of the neonate rat. 5HT is involved in melatonin (MEL) production by the pineal gland. MEL is a hormone important in reproduction and seasonality in animals. Therefore, the effects of FA on MEL in the serum and pineal gland of male and female 21-d-old weanling rats from dams on an FA diet were studied. MEL was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which was standardized for directly measuring MEL in rat serum and pineal homogenates. At 200 ppm in the diet of nursing dams, FA increased serum MEL in both sexes. Results obtained from ELISA were supported by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis with fluorescence detection. MEL analysis of the pineal gland homogenates by ELISA and HPLC supported observations in the serum. Analogously, in pineal cell monolayer cultures, FA at 1 microM and 100 microM concentrations increased MEL in a dose-dependent manner as compared to the control cells. This is the first report that FA increases MEL in vivo and in vitro and suggests that FA contamination of diets may affect mechanisms involving MEL synthesis.
镰刀菌酸（FA）由几种通常感染谷物和其他农产品的镰刀菌属物种产生。哺乳母鼠饲料中的FA会在哺乳期转移至哺乳后代，并改变新生大鼠松果体中的血清素（5-羟色胺，5HT）。5HT参与松果体中褪黑素（MEL）的产生。MEL是一种对动物繁殖和季节性变化很重要的激素。因此，研究了FA对食用含FA日粮的母鼠所产21日龄雄性和雌性断奶大鼠血清和松果体中MEL的影响。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）法测定MEL，该方法经过标准化处理，可直接测定大鼠血清和松果体匀浆中的MEL。在哺乳母鼠的日粮中添加200 ppm的FA时，雌雄大鼠的血清MEL均升高。ELISA结果得到了荧光检测高效液相色谱（HPLC）分析的支持。ELISA和HPLC对松果体匀浆的MEL分析结果与血清中的观察结果一致。类似地，在松果体细胞单层培养中，与对照细胞相比，1 microM和100 microM浓度的FA以剂量依赖方式增加了MEL。这是关于FA在体内和体外均能增加MEL的首次报道，表明日粮中的FA污染可能会影响涉及MEL合成的机制。
