Abstract
Immunosuppressive effects of trichothecenes of Fusarium solani and Fusarium nivale, T-2 toxin and fusarenon-X, and also of a mycotoxin of Penicillium islandicum, cyclochlorotine, were studied by measuring the anti-2, 4-dinitrophenyl (DNP) antibody responses in guinea pigs immunized with DNP-bovine serum albumin. Among these mycotoxins, T-2 toxin alone suppressed strongly the anti-DNP antibody responses at a certain sublethal dose. With other mycotoxins, no effect was observed at any sublethal doses tested. All of the mycotoxins, on the other hand, inhibited the in vitro blast transformation of guinea pig splenic cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide of Escherichia coli (B cell mitogen) or concanavalin A (T cell mitogen), when measured by incorporation of 3H-thymidine into DNA. Their inhibitory activities were independent of the sort of mitogen used. As in the case of the antibody responses, T-2 toxin was most potent in reducing the DNA synthesis, and exhibited about 10 and 1000 times as potent inhibitory activity as fusarenon-X and cyclochlorotine, respectively.
