Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Analysis of Glucose Levels in Weanling Piglets Plasma as a Function of Deoxynivalenol Exposure

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin contaminant of cereal crops, and whilst animal toxicity has demonstrated its role at low doses in animals, and in human toxicity in general remains unclear. Here we investigated potential biological markers in sera using samples obtained from a previous DON-controlled feeding study on weanling piglets. Piglets (n=10 per group) received diets containing 0 (control), 240, 560-or 840 μg DON/kg feed for 28 days. Plasma samples collected at the end of the DON exposure trial were reassessed, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). A modest trend was observed between plasma glucose concentration and DON ingestion (P=0.04). Plasma DON (P=0.04) and plasma protein-associated DON (P=0.08) were moderately correlated with DON ingestion in a more limited survey of a subset of samples used for glucose analysis (n=20). This is a preliminary study but suggests that a more detailed survey of the temporal nature of these biological measures is warranted.