# Impact of Mycotoxin Metabolites Deepoxy-Deoxynivalenol and Beta-Zearalenol on Bovine Preimplantation Embryo Development in the Presence of Acetonitrile

## TL;DR

This study examines how mycotoxin metabolites and acetonitrile affect early bovine embryo development, finding that acetonitrile may influence blastocyst rates.

## Contribution

The study explores the combined effects of mycotoxin metabolites and the impact of acetonitrile on bovine embryo development.

## Key findings

- Acetonitrile at 0.25% concentration affected blastocyst rates compared to no acetonitrile.
- Higher mycotoxin concentrations diluted in minimal acetonitrile showed no statistical difference in blastocyst development.
- A less invasive vehicle is recommended to assess the true effect of mycotoxin combinations.

## Abstract

Early embryonic mortality is one of the main causes of poor reproductive health and is influenced by many factors, including mycotoxins and their metabolites in feed. When several mycotoxins are present in feed, they can have different effects and cause significant animal health problems; however, their synergistic effects have not yet been explored. We found that the blastocyst rate was affected by acetonitrile as a vehicle for the mycotoxin. When the desired mycotoxin concentrations were diluted with the lowest possible amount of acetonitrile, we found no statistical difference between blastocyst rates, although there was a trend suggesting that the combination caused poorer blastocyst development. However, a less invasive vehicle should be used to see if the combination of mycotoxins can affect blastocyst rates.

The quality of animal feed is increasingly affected by weather conditions, high humidity, and damage to grains, which have led to various mycotoxin-producing moulds. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of the combination of deepoxy-deoxynivalenol and beta-zearalenol on the development of preimplantation bovine embryos, the extent to which the presence of both mycotoxin metabolites affects the development of in vitro cultured bovine embryos, or whether the effect of both toxins enhances embryotoxicity. Ovaries were transported from the abattoir to the laboratory and, after maturation and fertilisation, zygotes were placed in an embryo culture medium (IVC) with different mycotoxin metabolite concentrations diluted in acetonitrile. It was found that the blastocyst rate of cleaved embryos was affected by 1 μL acetonitrile in 400 μL medium (0.25%) compared to the group without acetonitrile. For this reason, it was decided to use acetonitrile as a control group, and the desired mycotoxin metabolite concentrations were diluted in the lowest possible amount of acetonitrile (0.5 μL) that could be accurately added to the study groups. There was no statistical difference when the higher mycotoxin metabolite concentrations were added.