EFFECTS OF FUMONISIN B-1 IN PREGNANT RATS

Fumonisin B-1 (FB1), the major mycotoxin from Fusarium moniliforme, ha s been implicated as a causative agent in several animal and human dis eases. Despite animal toxicity studies and human epidemiological studi es of FB1, knowledge of its reproductive effects is scarce. In this st udy, one of a series of proposed studies that will allow extrapolation to humans, pregnant rats were given oral doses of 0, 1.875, 3.75, 7.5 or 15 mg FB1/kg on gestation days 3-16. Caesarean sections were perfo rmed on day 17 or 20, and maternal condition, implantation efficiency, foeta1 viability and foetal development were measured. Dose-related d ecreases in overall feed consumption and body weight gain were seen, b ut only the feed consumption decrease at 15 mg/kg, and the decreased b ody weight gain at 15 mg/kg on days 0-17 were statistically significan t. Foetal body weights at day 17 were similar in control and treated g roups; but in day-20 foetuses, female weight and crown-rump length wer e significantly decreased at 15 mg/kg. FBI was not teratogenic at the doses tested, and no dose-related effects were seen in either skeletal or soft-tissue development. In day-I7 animals, maternal and foetal br ain, liver and kidney tissues, and maternal serum were preserved to st udy the levels of sphinganine (Sa), sphingosine (So), and the Sa/So ra tios. Dose-related increases were seen in Sa/So ratios in maternal liv ers, kidneys and serum. Sa/So ratios of maternal brains were not affec ted, nor were those of foetal kidneys, livers or brains. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.