Chemistry

Inflammation

Cell biology

Fusarium

Biology

Immunology

Genetics

Zearalenone

Inflammasome

Chemosphere

To ascertain whether zearalenone (ZEA) could induce intestinal inflammation and investigate its possible mechanism, we investigated inflammatory cytokine release and the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome after ZEA treatment both in vitro or in vivo. First, intestinal porcine enterocyte cell line (IPEC-J2) cells and mouse peritoneal macrophages were treated with ZEA to detect NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in ZEA-induced inflammation was investigated. Then, Balb/c mice were fed a gavage of ZEA, and the disease activity indices (DAIs) and histological analysis were used to assess intestinal inflammation. Our study showed that the mRNA expression of NLRP3 inflammasome, pro-interleukin-1β (pro-IL-1β), and pro-interleukin-18 (pro-IL-18) was up-regulated 0.5- to 1-fold and that the release of IL-1β and IL-18 increased from 48 pg mL-1 to 55 pg mL-1 and 110 pg mL-1 to 145 pg mL-1, respectively. However, ROS inhibitor N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) reduced IL-1β and IL-18 re...

Zearalenone (ZEA)-induced intestinal inflammation is mediated by the NLRP3 inflammasome