Cytotoxicity of fumonisin B1, diethylnitrosamine, and catechol on the SNO esophageal cancer cell line.

Mycotoxins that commonly contaminate staple food grains pose a health hazard to animals and humans. Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium verticillioides, causes equine leukoencephalomalacia and porcine pulmonary edema and has been implicated in the etiology of esophageal cancer (EC) in the Transkei, South Africa. Various studies have indicated that nitrosamines induce EC, and F. verticillioides enhancement of nitrosamine-induced EC in rats has been reported. Dietary catechol (CAT), a constituent of cigarette smoke, was previously found to be a cocarcinogen with methyl-N-nitrosamine for inducing esophageal tumors in rats. In the present study we therefore investigated the cytotoxic effects of FB1, diethylnitrosamine (DEN), and CAT on a human esophageal epithelial cell line (SNO) using the methylthiazol tetrazolium assay. For each treatment, toxin concentrations ranged from 2.165 to 34.64 micro M. The results showed that the cytotoxic response of SNO cells was highest in cells treated with 34.64 micro M FB1. SNO cells treated with DEN + FB1 showed greater cytotoxicity than did cells treated with FB1 alone, whereas FB1 appeared to inhibit the cytotoxic effect exerted by CAT alone. The results of this study provide further evidence for the involvement of FB1 in the etiology of esophageal carcinoma.