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Effects of Zearalenone (F2) on Estrous Activity and Reproduction in Gilts^1,2,

Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France

Abstract

The effects of zearalenone on swine reproduction were investigated in two trials involving a total of 82 gilts which were allotted into three groups at puberty, mated at second estrus and slaughtered 80 d postbreeding. A control diet without mycotoxin (group 1) or an experimental diet containing 3.61 ppm (first trial) or 4.3 3 ppm zearalenone (second trial) were fed at a mean daily level of 2 kg/animal. The experimental diet was fed from puberty to mating (group 2) or during pregnancy (group 3). No difference was observed between the two trials. When fed to nonpregnant gilts, zearalenone induced a pseudopregnancy state in 45% of the animals; no estrus was detected within 50 d following puberty and corpora lutea developed at puberty were maintained. The uterine horns were edematous. Reproductive performance measured at 80 d postmating (ovulation rate, weight of corpora lutea, number of normal and abnormal fetuses, embryonic mortality) were not affected by zearalenone intake. But when zearalenone was fed during pregnancy, weights of uterus, placental membranes and fetuses were significantly decreased in comparison with those of control gilts and heterogeneity of fetuses in the same litter was increased. Hematocrit and erythrocyte count were lower in fetuses from gilts ingesting zearalenone, but hematology of the dams ramained unaffected. No mycotoxin residue could be detected in gilts or fetal tissues despite the great consequences observed on cyclicity of the famales or on the development of embryos. This experiment showed evidence of the estrogenic properties of zearalenone in mature gilts.

¹ Supported in part by funds from French Ministry of Environment.

² The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. C. Frayssinnet (Institut de Recherches Scientifiques sur le Cancer, France) for carrying out dermic tests on rats, Dr. M. C. Bowman (Univ. of Minnesota) for investigating zearalenone and zearalenol residues in som liver and placental extracts, and Dr. F. A. Murray (Ohio Agr. Res. and Development Center) for critical evaluation of the manuscript.

³ Station de Recherches sur Elevage des Pores, Centre de Rennes—St. Gilles, 35590 Hermitage, France.

⁴ Service Mycotoxines, 16 rue Nicolas Fortin, 75013 Paris, France.

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