Feed contaminated with Fusarium toxins alter lymphocyte proliferation and apoptosis in primiparous sows during the perinatal period

Two groups of pregnant primiparous sows (day 89 ± 2 of gestation) were 54 days (±1 day) fed either with an experimental diet (5.08 mg kg−1 deoxynivalenol – DON, 0.09 mg kg−1 zearalenone and 21.61 mg kg−1 fusaric acid) or control diet (0.25 mg kg−1 DON). The consummation of feed was significantly higher in the control group. Lymphocyte stimulation in culture from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) was measured by BrdU incorporation test using two different concentrations of mitogen PHA 10 and 20 μg ml−1, two different concentrations of DON (5 and 1 μg ml−1) and a combination of both, PHA and DON (PHA 10 + DON 5, PHA 10 + DON 1 and PHA 10 + DON 0.1 μg ml−1). The lymphocyte proliferation, except for PHA 10 μg ml−1, was significantly higher in the experimental group. Further on, using the photometric enzyme immunoassay, the apoptosis was studied in non-stimulated 72 h lymphocyte culture or stimulated with 1 μg ml−1 of DON. The significantly higher apoptosis was in non-stimulated lymphocyte cultures from the experimental group (P = 0.036). The results suggest that such feed may affect the peripheral lymphocyte population in the direction of their proliferation response and programmed cell death.