Resveratrol inhibits aflatoxin B1-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in bovine mammary epithelial cells and is involved the Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Aflatoxins are widely occurring food contaminants that are particularly harmful to dairy products and cows. The plant polyphenol resveratrol has been reported to have a good effect on increasing the resistance of cells toward toxins. Therefore, we measured the effects of aflatoxin B1 and resveratrol on the viability of the MAC-T cow mammary epithelial cell line. The appropriate treatment concentrations were assayed (12.81 μM aflatoxin B1 and 43.81 μM resveratrol) to verify the protective effect of resveratrol toward mammary epithelial cells. The results showed that resveratrol alleviates aflatoxin B1-induced cytotoxicity, including the increase in ROS and the decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and apoptosis in MAC-T cells. The expression of mRNA transcripts (including Nrf2, Keap1, NQO1, HO-1, SOD2 and HSP70) for components of the Nrf2 signaling pathway was evaluated by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, with resveratrol also exhibiting a good regulatory effect. Thus, resveratrol was shown to have an ameliorating effect on aflatoxin toxicity in MAC-T cells.