EFFECTS OF DIETARY EXPOSURE TO FUMONISINS FROM FUSARIUM-MONILIFORME CULTURE MATERIAL (M-1325) ON THE REPRODUCTIVE-PERFORMANCE OF FEMALE MINK

Adult female mink (Mustela vison) were fed diets that contained Fusari um moniliforme culture material that provided low- or high-dose dietar y concentrations of 86 or 200 ppm fumonisin B-1, 22 or 42 ppm fumonisi n B-2, and 7 or 12 ppm fumonisin B-3, respectively, from approximately two weeks prior to breeding through gestation and lactation. Breeding perfor mance of the females was not affected by consumption of the fu monisin diets. However, 58% of the mated females fed the high-dose die t (254 ppm total fumonisins) whelped compared to 100% of those fed the control and low-dose diets (115 ppm fumonisins). There was a statisti cally significant, dose-dependent decrease in kit (young mink) body we ights at birth and a notable, but non-significant, decrease in litter size. The percentage of stillborn kits was directly proportional to th e concentration of fumonisins in the dams' diets. Fumonisin concentrat ions in milk collected from those fed the high-dose diets were approxi mately 0.7% of the dietary fumonisin concentrations. Lactational expos ure to fumonisins did not significantly decrease kit survival from bir th through three weeks of age. Hepatic cell vacuolation was present in 25% of the control and 80% of the high-dose adults. No treatment-rela ted gross or histologic lesions were observed in the kit mink, Numerou s differences in hematologic and serum chemical parameters were noted between the control and fumonisin-exposed mink.