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Study on the in vitro effect of zearalenone and α ‐zearalenol on boar sperm–zona pellucida interaction by hemizona assay application
Author(s) -
Tsakmakidis I. A.,
Lymberopoulos A. G.,
Vainas E.,
Boscos C. M.,
Kyriakis S. C.,
Alexopoulos C.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of applied toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1099-1263
pISSN - 0260-437X
DOI - 10.1002/jat.1239
Subject(s) - zona pellucida , zearalenone , semen , boar , sperm , andrology , acrosin , oocyte , in vitro , chemistry , biology , mycotoxin , acrosome , biochemistry , embryo , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , food science
The mycotoxin zearalenone (zen) impairs fertility in farm animals. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of zearalenone and its major metabolite ( α ‐zearalenol) on boar semen binding capacity, under in vitro conditions. Extended boar semen was exposed to three different concentrations of zen and α ‐zen (40, 60 and 80 µg ml −1 of semen) for 1 h. Afterwards, the semen was washed and incubated with homologous oocyte hemizona for 4 h. A significant decrease ( P < 0.001) in the number of tightly attached spermatozoa on the hemizona was obtained at concentrations of 60 µg ml −1 and 80 µg ml −1 of zen and α ‐zen. In conclusion, zen and α ‐zen affected the sperm–zona interaction by reducing the ability of boar spermatozoa to bind to the zona pellucida. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.