Morphology and ultrastructure of small intestine mucosa in gilts with zearalenone mycotoxicosis.

Zearalenone (ZEA) is a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium. It evokes disruptions in sex cycle and changes in the morphology of the reproductive organs in pigs. The morphology and ultrastructure of the small intestine mucosa were assessed after the course of the experimental zearalenone mycotoxicosis. During the experiment, pigs were fed feed containing low doses of ZEA. The experiment lasted 7 days and it was carried out on sexually immature gilts that were divided into 3 groups: control group (C) and 2 experimental groups (E1, E2; n=8). Groups E1 and E2 were given ZEA every day at a dose of 200 and 400 microg/kg b.w. The samples of tissues were taken for examinations after the slaughter on the last day of the experiment. No significant changes in the morphology of the intestinal mucosa were found in the experimental animals. Increased activity of the goblet cells and high content of mucinogen vesicles, lymphocytic infiltration, increased activity of endocrine cells and the presence of Paneth cells on the bottom of intestinal crypts, which sugest mobilisation of the local defence mechanisms in the intestinal mucosa, were obseved in group E2.