In vivo toxicity of zearalenone on liver and kidney in mice.

Adult female mice were exposed to intraperitoneal injection of ZEA at 50 mg/kg body weight daily for 3 days.Pathological changes of liver and kidney of treated mice were assessed.The results showed that diffuse necrosis and hypatocyte focal fatty degeneration in liver,and swelling in the epithelial cells of the proximal tubules,granular degeneration of epithelial cells,blood vessels dilated and congested with a large areas of haemorrhage and shrunken glomeruli in kidney were observed.A single dose of ZEA(100 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injection significantly reduced total protein(TP),albumin(ALB) of treated mice.Whereas,it significantly increased uric acid(Uric) and urea(Urea) of treated mice.In conclusion,ZEA had adverse effects on both liver and kidney of adult female mice,induced degenerative changes in the hepatic and renal tissues,and dysfunction in liver and kidney.