Research On Toxicity Of α-zearalenol To Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

Zearalenone,an estrogenic activities mycotoxin,is one of the most common mycotoxin contaminants of food and animal feed.Theα-zearalenol（α-ZOL）is the major metabolites of zearalenone in vivo.Zen andα-ZOL has wide range toxic effect on human and animals health.In this study,human umbilical vein endothelial cells（HUVEC）were used to investigate the cytotoxity ofα-zearalenol in vitro.The goal of our research was to evaluate the cytotoxity ofα-ZOL（the major metabolites of ZEN）,and elucidate the mechanism of zearalenone toxicity,which could provide the evidences for prevent from zearalenone intoxication.The effects ofα-ZOL on HUVEC cell morphological and quantitative traits,cell viability,cell cycle,oxidative stress,cell apoptosis and the cell cycle and apoptosis-related genes expression were detected by using the fluorescence microscopy observation,flow cytometry,qRT-PCR,and the results were as follows:（1）α-ZOL treatment could significantly change cell morphology,reduce cell number,decrease cell viability,generate cytotoxity,inhibit cell proliferation,and induce G₂/M phase arrest in HUVEC cells.（2）α-ZOL treatment could increase ROS levels,increase the content of MDA,decrease SOD gene expression,induce oxidative stress in HUVEC cells.（3）α-ZOL treatment could also induce nuclear pyknotic change the expression of apoptosis-related genes（Caspase3,Caspase6,Bax,Bcl-2）,cause the apoptosis and necrosis in HUVEC cells.Conclutions:The toxic effects ofα-zearalenol（α-ZOL）on HUVEC cells are indicated by reduction cell viability,inhibition of cell proliferation,arrest cell cycle in G₂/M phase,induction oxidative stress,lead to cell apoptosis.