A teratology study on vomitoxin (4-deoxynivalenol) in rabbits.

Diets containing 4-deoxynivalenol (vomitoxin) of greater than 98% purity were fed to rabbits on days 0-30 of gestation. The dietary concentrations of 4-deoxynivalenol were 0, 0.00075, 0.0015, 0.003, 0.006, 0.012 and 0.024% and the daily intakes of deoxynivalenol were 0, 0.3, 0.6, 1.0, 1.6, 2.0 and 1.8 mg/kg body weight/day, respectively. A pair-fed group was given a feed intake equivalent to that in the 1.6-mg/kg group. The only significant effects that were observed in foetuses examined at day 30 of gestation occurred only at doses that caused reductions in both the body weight and feed intake of does. The foetal effects consisted of a 100% incidence of resorption in the 1.8- and 2.0-mg/kg groups and decreased mean foetal weight in the 1.0- and 1.6-mg/kg and pair-fed groups. The doses that did not appear to be maternotoxic (0.6 and 0.3 mg/kg) did not show any adverse effects in foetuses at term. Vomitoxin given in the diet during pregnancy failed to show any evidence of teratogenic potential in rabbits.