71376-34-6

Fusarium moniliforme NRRL 6322 produces about 600 mg of recoverable moniliformin, a mycotoxic metabolite, per kg of corn grit medium. Several strains of Fusarium moniliforme produce in laboratory culture more than 800 mg of moniliformin per kg of growth substrate. Monocytes-derived macrophages exposed to moniliformin during the differentiation process present a decrease of endocytosis ability, and a decrease of CD71 and HLA-DR expression.

Moniliformin is less toxic to mice, with an LD ₅₀ of 20.9 mg per kg for the females and 29.1 mg per kg of body weight for the males. As in the case of the chicks, mice surviving the toxin demonstrated no ill effects; the mice or chicks that died became recumbent in 4 to 6 h after treatment and died within 24 h. In 4-day-old chicken embryos, a sharp LD ₅₀ of 2.8 μg per embryo is obtained with no overt gross teratogenic effects in the survivors. Rats treated with the highest dose of moniliformin show decreased activity followed by acute heart failure and death. The rats of the lower doses (<9mg/kg b.w.) show no signs of toxicity. The daily intake of moniliformin strongly reduces the phagocytic activity of neutrophils in all dose groups. The decrease continued in the satellite group during the follow-up period, indicating a severe impact on the immune system and a LOAEL value of 3mg/kg b.w. for moniliformin. Moniliformin is rapidly excreted into urine, ranging between 20.2 and 31.5% daily and shows no signs of accumulation. The concentration of moniliformin in faeces is less than 2%, which suggests efficient absorption from the gastrointestinal tract.