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Toxins
Special Issues
Mycotoxins and Animal Health: Mechanisms, Impacts, and Mitigation Strategies
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Mycotoxins and Animal Health: Mechanisms, Impacts, and Mitigation Strategies

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Mycotoxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 1489

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Łukasz Żielonka

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Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Prevention and Feed Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury, Oczapowskiego 13,10-718 Olsztyn, Poland
Interests: mycotoxins; detection; mycotoxicosis; diagnostics; animal pathology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite decades of research, mycotoxin contamination remains a complex problem, often involving multiple toxins with additive or synergistic effects. Recent advances in molecular biology, veterinary toxicology, and nutritional science have paved the way for innovative approaches to mycotoxin control — including novel adsorbents, microbial and enzymatic detoxification methods, genetic selection for resilience, targeted nutritional interventions, and precision feeding strategies. Importantly, these solutions must be evaluated not only for their efficacy in reducing toxin exposure but also for their impact on overall animal performance, product quality, and farm profitability.

This Special Issue of Toxins will focus on the current state of knowledge and recent advances in understanding the mechanisms of mycotoxin toxicity, assessing their health and production impacts in livestock and aquaculture, and evaluating practical mitigation strategies. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and methodological papers that

  • Elucidate biochemical, cellular, and physiological pathways affected by mycotoxins in animals.
  • Assess the effects of mycotoxin exposure on animal health, productivity, and product safety.
  • Evaluate the efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of novel detoxification and mitigation methods.
  • Investigate interactions between mycotoxins, pathogens, and other environmental stressors in animal production systems.

Submissions that demonstrate clear practical relevance — such as improvements in animal performance, health status, or production economics — are particularly encouraged. Studies addressing multiple mycotoxins, emerging contaminants, or the combined impact of toxins and management factors are also within the scope of this Special Issue.

Dr. Łukasz Żielonka
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Mycotoxins
  • feed contamination
  • detoxification strategies
  • microbial degradation
  • enzymatic detoxification
  • adsorbents
  • nutritional inter-ventions
  • veterinary toxicology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 8638 KB  
Article
In Vitro Reduction of Extractable Zearalenone and Screening of Tentative Transformation Products by Metschnikowia pulcherrima KKP 1368 Under Selected Buffered pH Conditions Relevant to the Porcine Gastrointestinal Tract
by Krzysztof Waśkiewicz, Michał Dąbrowski, Michał Łuczyński, Marcin Wróbel and Łukasz Zielonka
Toxins 2026, 18(5), 214; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins18050214 - 1 May 2026
Viewed by 335
Abstract
Zearalenone (ZEN) is an estrogenic mycotoxin produced by Fusarium spp. and commonly found in cereals and feed materials. This study evaluated the ability of Metschnikowia pulcherrima KKP 1368 biomass to reduce extractable ZEN under controlled buffered pH conditions (pH 3.50 and 7.00) selected [...] Read more.
Zearalenone (ZEN) is an estrogenic mycotoxin produced by Fusarium spp. and commonly found in cereals and feed materials. This study evaluated the ability of Metschnikowia pulcherrima KKP 1368 biomass to reduce extractable ZEN under controlled buffered pH conditions (pH 3.50 and 7.00) selected as simplified conditions relevant to the porcine gastrointestinal environment. ZEN was quantified by LC-MS/MS, whereas LC-MS-QTOF was used as a qualitative/semi-quantitative screening approach for tentatively assigned transformation-related features. In the presence of yeast biomass, extractable ZEN was already lower than in the corresponding controls at the first sampling point, indicating a rapid biomass-associated effect. After 12 h, reductions relative to the corresponding controls reached 63.0% at pH 3.50 (p < 0.0001) and 51.6% at pH 7.00 (p = 0.0001). ZEN remained stable in control samples, and the strain remained viable under both pH conditions throughout incubation. LC-MS-QTOF detected several tentatively assigned features consistent with zearalanone, zearalenone-14-glucuronide, and zearalenol O-glucoside; these assignments require confirmation with authentic standards. Overall, M. pulcherrima KKP 1368 reduced extractable ZEN in a simplified buffered in vitro system, probably through rapid adsorption/reduced extractability and possible biotransformation. Further studies using biomass fractions or inactivated biomass, mass-balance experiments, authentic standards, and toxicological assays are needed to clarify the relative contribution of adsorption and transformation and to assess the practical relevance of this approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mycotoxins and Animal Health: Mechanisms, Impacts, and Mitigation Strategies)
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14 pages, 4648 KB  
Article
Aflatoxin Mixture-Driven Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma in Rats Involving G1/S Checkpoint Dysregulation
by Vinícius Menezes Braga, Paulo Henrique Fernandes Pereira, Letícia de Araujo Apolinario, Deisy Mara Silva Longo, Leandra Naira Zambelli Ramalho, Sher Ali, Carlos Augusto Fernandes de Oliveira and Fernando Silva Ramalho
Toxins 2026, 18(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins18010014 - 25 Dec 2025
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Abstract
Aflatoxins (AFs) are potent hepatotropic mycotoxins—AFB1 being the best-characterized—yet their ability to induce intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) remains underexplored. Male Wistar rats received vehicle (controls; n = 5) or an AFB1-dominant AF mixture (AFB1 39.46 μg/mL; AFB2 1.13 μg/mL; [...] Read more.
Aflatoxins (AFs) are potent hepatotropic mycotoxins—AFB1 being the best-characterized—yet their ability to induce intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) remains underexplored. Male Wistar rats received vehicle (controls; n = 5) or an AFB1-dominant AF mixture (AFB1 39.46 μg/mL; AFB2 1.13 μg/mL; AFG1 17.44 μg/mL; AFG2 0.59 μg/mL— n = 10) by daily gavage for 90 days, at a dose equivalent to 400 μg AFB1 per kg of diet. After 12 months, twelve iCCA tumors were resected and analyzed by histology (H&E) and tissue-microarray-based immunohistochemistry (Cytokeratin-19, Hep Par-1, p53, Cyclin D1, Rb, β-catenin, and PCNA). Lesions predominantly showed glandular/tubular architecture consistent with iCCA and were cytokeratin-19-positive and Hep Par-1-negative. Cell proliferation was high (PCNA ≈ 69%). p53 displayed nuclear accumulation in 83% of tumors. G1/S control was perturbed, with cyclin D1 overexpression (67%), and Rb was positive in 58% of iCCA. Aberrant Wnt activation was rare (nuclear β-catenin in 8%). Subchronic exposure to an AFB1-dominant AF mixture in rats was associated with iCCA characterized by high proliferative activity, p53 accumulation, and disruption of G1/S checkpoint components. These findings broaden the oncogenic spectrum of AFs and warrant genomic confirmation of AF mutational signatures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mycotoxins and Animal Health: Mechanisms, Impacts, and Mitigation Strategies)
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