The Impact of Fermented Wheat Germ Extract on Porcine Epithelial Cell Line Exposed to Deoxynivalenol and T-2 Mycotoxins

The effect of fermented wheat germ extract (FWGE) (Immunovet®) was evaluated with cotreatments with deoxynivalenol (DON) and T-2 toxin (T-2). These mycotoxins are produced by Fusarium mold species. The effects of FWGE on IPEC-J2 with DON and T-2 have not been studied until now. The IPEC-J2 porcine, nontumorigenic cell line was selected to investigate the outcome of the individually and simultaneously added compounds, as it has in vivo-like properties. The cells were treated for 24 h with the selected solutions; then, the IPEC-J2 cells were allowed to regenerate in a culture medium for an additional 24 h. In our results, DON and T-2 significantly increased the adverse impacts on cell viability and integrity of the cell monolayer. To elucidate the extent of oxidative stress, extracellular H2O2 concentrations and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured. FWGE appeared to be beneficial to IPEC-J2 cells given the separately and significantly decreased ROS levels. 1% and 2% FWGE could significantly reduce mycotoxin-induced oxidative stress. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that FWGE exerted protective effects to counteract the oxidative stress-provoking properties of applied fusariotoxins in the nontumorigenic IPEC-J2 cell line.