Effect of T-2 mycotoxin on early development of mouse embryos

T-2 is a member of the group of trichotecenes produced mainly by moulds of Fusarium genus. Among a lot of negative effects, T-2 can induce apoptosis, inhibits protein synthesis, has an immunosuppressive effect and it may cause reproductive disorders. Despite the wide-scale studies, to the best of the authors' knowledge there are no data available about the effect on early embryo development. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of the toxin on early embryo development until the blastocyst stage. Embryos obtained from C57/BI6 mouse strain were cultured for 5 days in media supplemented with T-2 toxin in different concentrations (9 treated and one control group). After 5 days of culture the proportion of blastocysts was determined in each group. The mitochondria! pattern (location in cytoplasm), activity and level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined too. The results show that in media containing the T-2 mycotoxin in concentration of 2.5 ng/ml or higher, the development of embryos was stopped within 24 hours of culture, at the two-cell stage. It was probably caused by inhibiting of assembly of microtubules. At lower concentrations the embryos developed further in different ratios. In the group contaminated with toxin in 0,5 ng/ml the mitochondrial activity and ROS level showed no difference compared to control embryos.