Co‐occurrence of Mycotoxin‐Induced Hepatotoxicity in Mice Inhibited by Lycopene: Mitochondrial Impairment and Early Hepatic Fibrosis

Abstract

ScopeMycotoxins co‐contamination of agricultural products poses a serious threat to human and animal health, especially hepatic dysfunction. Zearalenone (ZEN), deoxynivalenol (DON), and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) are three commonly co‐occurring mycotoxins. This study is to determine whether lycopene (LYC) can alleviate hepatic toxicity induced by the co‐occurrence of ZEN, DON, and AFB1 in mice.Methods and resultsEighty 6‐week‐old male ICR mice are divided into four groups: CON group (solvent control), LYC group (10 mg kg−1 LYC), Co‐M group (10 mg kg−1 ZEN + 1 mg kg−1 DON + 0.5 mg kg−1 AFB1), and LYC+Co‐M group (10 mg kg−1 LYC + 10 mg kg−1 ZEN + 1 mg kg−1 DON + 0.5 mg kg−1 AFB1). The results show that LYC can suppress the co‐occurrence of mycotoxin‐induced mitochondrial swelling and vacuolization accompanied by dysregulation of indices of mitochondrial dynamics (Mitofusin 1 (Mfn1), Mfn2, Optic atrophy 1 (Opa1), Dynamin‐related protein 1 (Drp1), Fission 1 (Fis1) at the mRNA level; DRP1 and FIS1 at the protein level). LYC effectively inhibits co‐occurrence of mycotoxin‐induced activation of Cytochrome P450 2E1, and early fibrosis, as determined by staining with Masson's trichrome and α‐SMA protein.ConclusionLYC successfully attenuates early hepatic fibrosis mainly through antioxidant activities and prevented mitochondrial injury.