Comparison of Anorectic and Emetic Potencies of Deoxynivalenol (Vomitoxin) to the Plant Metabolite Deoxynivalenol-3-Glucoside and Synthetic Deoxynivalenol Derivatives EN139528 and EN139544

The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) elicits robust anorectic and emetic effects in several animal species. However, less is known about the potential for naturally occurring and synthetic congeners of this trichothecene to cause analogous responses. Here we tested the hypothesis that alterations in DON structure found in the plant metabolite deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (D3G) and two pharmacologically active synthetic DON derivatives, EN139528 and EN139544, differentially impact their potential to evoke food refusal and emesis. In a nocturnal mouse food consumption model, oral administration with DON, D3G, EN139528, or EN139544 at doses from 2.5 to 10 mg/kg BW induced anorectic responses that lasted up to 16, 6, 6, and 3 h, respectively. Anorectic potency rank orders were EN139544>DON>EN139528>D3G from 0 to 0.5 h but DON>D3G>EN139528>EN139544 from 0 to 3 h. Oral exposure to each of the four compounds at a common dose (2.5 mg/kg BW) stimulated plasma elevations of the gut satiety peptides cholecystokinin and to a lesser extent, peptide YY3-36 that corresponded to reduced food consumption. In a mink emesis model, oral administration of increasing doses of the congeners differentially induced emesis, causing marked decreases in latency to emesis with corresponding increases in both the duration and number of emetic events. The minimum emetic doses for DON, EN139528, D3G, and EN139544 were 0.05, 0.5, 2, and 5 mg/kg BW, respectively. Taken together, the results suggest that although all three DON congeners elicited anorectic responses that mimicked DON over a narrow dose range, they were markedly less potent than the parent mycotoxin at inducing emesis.