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Comparative Study
. 2022 Jul 18;14(7):497.
doi: 10.3390/toxins14070497.

Comparative Effects of Deoxynivalenol, Zearalenone and Its Modified Forms De-Epoxy-Deoxynivalenol and Hydrolyzed Zearalenone on Boar Semen In Vitro

Panagiotis D Tassis  1 , Nicole Reisinger  2 , Veronika Nagl  2 , Eleni Tzika  1 , Dian Schatzmayr  2 , Nikolaos Mittas  3 , Athina Basioura  4 , Ilias Michos  1 , Ioannis A Tsakmakidis  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparative Effects of Deoxynivalenol, Zearalenone and Its Modified Forms De-Epoxy-Deoxynivalenol and Hydrolyzed Zearalenone on Boar Semen In Vitro

Panagiotis D Tassis et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN) are described as detrimental factors to sow and boar fertility. In comparison, literature reports on the impact of modified forms of DON and ZEN, such as de-epoxy-DON (DOM-1) and hydrolyzed ZEN (HZEN), on swine reproduction are scarce. The aim of our study was to compare the effects of DON, DOM-1, ZEN and HZEN on boar semen in vitro. To this end, pooled boar semen ejaculates from two adult boars were treated with either 50.6 μM DON, 62.8 μM ZEN or equimolar concentrations of DOM-1 and HZEN, respectively (dilution volume of v/v 0.7% DMSO in all cases). Effects on semen motility, morphology, viability, hypo-osmotic swelling test reaction and DNA integrity were investigated hourly up to four hours of incubation. DON negatively affected particular parameters evaluated with a computer-assisted sperm analysis system (CASA), such as immotile spermatozoa and progressive motile spermatozoa, whereas those effects were absent in the case of DOM-1 treatment. In contrast to HZEN, ZEN affected almost all CASA parameters. Furthermore, only ZEN decreased the proportion of viable spermatozoa and increased the proportion of spermatozoa with abnormalities. In conclusion, DON and ZEN negatively affected boar semen in vitro, whereas equimolar concentrations of DOM-1 and HZEN did not induce harmful effects.

Keywords: boar; de-epoxy-deoxynivalenol; deoxynivalenol; hydrolyzed zearalenone; mycotoxins; reproduction; semen; spermatozoa; swine; zearalenone.

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Conflict of interest statement

V.N., N.R. and D.S. are employees of BIOMIN Holding GmbH. However, this circumstance did not influence the design of the experimental studies or bias the presentation and interpretation of results. P.D.T., I.A.T., E.T., I.M., N.M. and A.B. declare no conflicts of interest.

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