Deoxynivalenol Induces Apoptosis in Cell Cultures and the Antibiotic Fosfomycin Protects Cells From Nuclear Changes

PÉREZ, DENISA SOLEDAD; MARTÍNEZ GUADALUPE; RENSETTI, DANIEL E.; FERNÁNDEZ PAGGI MARÍA BELÉN; RICCIO MARÍA BELÉN; PÉREZ, SANDRA E.; TAPIA, MARÍA OFELIA; SORACI ALEJANDRO LUIS

Florida

Congreso; Global Veterinary Summit; 2015

OMICS International

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin which inhibits protein synthesis and causes cytotoxicity. Fosfomycin (FOS) is a bactericidal broad-spectrum antibiotic used in human and veterinary medicine, with some extra antimicrobial properties. Yet, we have demonstrated that after 4 h of incubation, FOS was able to prevent the cytopathic effect of DON on Hep2 cells. To corroborate these results and to determine whether the effect of DON was due to the induction of apoptosis, Hep2 cells were seeded in 6 well-plates and after 24 h, cell monolayers were treated with DON (2.8 μg/mL) or with DON (2.8 μg/mL) and FOS (550 μg/mL). The presence of nuclear morphological changes representative of apoptosis was evaluated under immunofluorescence microscope, the percentage of apoptotic cells was determined and the results were evaluated by ANOVA/Tukey test. Cell cultures incubated with 2.8 μg/mL DON and 550 μg/mL FOS were similar to control wells showing the absence of cytotoxicity. Apoptotic cells percentage was significantly higher (5.64 + 0.27) (p<0.01) for cells treated with DON than for cells incubated with both the mycotoxin and the antibiotic (0.65 + 0.5). To determine whether DON was able to induce apoptosis in different cells lines and at lower concentrations, MDBK and BHK cells were also treated with DON at 1 μg/mL for 24 h. Results show that the mycotoxin induces apoptosis in all the assayed cell lines. Further studies are needed to confirm that the protective effect of the antibiotic occurs in all cell lines and its implications under in vivo conditions.