The role of Peyer’s patches in mycotoxicity

Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites from mold that commonly contaminate cereal and livestock feed crops around the world. The consumption of mycotoxins contributes to substantial economic losses to the livestock industry due to reduced productivity and health. There are over 500 different classes of mycotoxins, many of which have unknown mechanisms of action (MOA). Adding mycotoxin binders to livestock feeds is an important remediation strategy for reducing risk of mycotoxicosis, since they can reduce bioavailability of certain mycotoxins, reducing absorption across the gut epithelium. When testing the toxicity of mycotoxins in different species, and the efficacy of mycotoxin binders for reducing mycotoxin bioavailability, in vitro studies are critical for initial screening. Previous studies have demonstrated the utility of a bovine macrophage cell line (BoMAC) for carrying out such studies; however, BoMACs alone do not morphologically reflect the intestinal barrier where most mycotoxin exposure occurs. It is physiologically more relevant to carry out in vitro exposure studies using intestinal epithelial cells (IEC), or even better, co-cultured IEC + macrophages (IEC+BoMAC).

Faculty Supervisor:

Niel Karrow

Student:

Partner:

Tohoku University

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture and Food; Life Sciences (not health); Environmental Science and Technology

University:

University of Guelph

Program: