Does low concentration mycotoxin exposure induce toxicity in HepG2 cells through oxidative stress?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether exposure to low concentrations of deoxynivalenol (DON), T-2 toxin (T-2) and patulin (PAT) in a human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2) exerts toxic effects through mechanisms related to oxidative stress, and how cells deal with such exposure. Cell viability was determined by the MTT and protein content (PC) assays over 24, 48 and 72 h. The IC₅₀ values detected ranged from >10 to 2.53 ± 0.21 μM (DON), 0.050 ± 0.025 to 0.034 ± 0.007 μM (T-2) and 2.66 ± 0.66 to 1.17 ± 0.21 µM (PAT). The key players in oxidative stress are the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation (LPO) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) dysfunction. The results obtained showed that PAT, DON and T-2 did not significantly increase LPO or ROS production with respect to the controls. Moreover, PAT and DON did not alter MMP, though T-2 increased MMP at the higher concentrations tested (17 and 34 nM). In conclusion, the exposure of HepG2 cells to nontoxic concentrations of T-2 condition them against subsequent cellular oxidative conditions induced by even higher concentrations of mycotoxin.

Keywords:

• Mycotoxins
• HepG2 cells
• low concentrations
• cellular response

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study, the analyses or the interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Author contributions

María José Ruiz conceived, designed and supervised the study; Mercedes Taroncher, Maria Chiari Pigni and Maria-Natalia Diana performed the experiments; Mercedes Taroncher and María José Ruiz wrote the manuscript; María José Ruiz and Ana Juan García reviewed the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Generalitat Valenciana [Project grant PROMETEO 2018/216].