Abstract
Zearalenone (ZEA) is a nonsteroidal mycotoxin, produced by various fungi of the Fusarium genus; Zearalenone exhibits estrogenic and anabolic properties in several animal species, including human beings. Zearalenone contamination of food is caused either by direct contamination of grains, fruits, and their product or by ―carry-over‖ of mycotoxins and their metabolites in animal tissues, milk, and eggs after intake of contaminated feedstuff.Despite Zearalenone has toxicity and carcinogenicity.Detoxification strategies for contaminated foods and feeds to reduce or eliminate the toxic effects of ZEA by chemical, physical, and biological methods are crucial to improve food safety, prevent economic losses, and reclaim contaminated productsHowever; there is no enough data on the reproductive toxicity of Zearalenone in adult male.Therefore, the present investigation aimed to elucidate the toxicity of different doses of Zearalenone on reproductive performance, enzyme activities in seminal plasma and growth performance of males New Zealand white rabbits. Twenty rabbits were divided into 4 equal groups, first group was used as control, second group was treated with 0.5 μg/kg BW, third group was treated with 5 μg/kg BW and the fourth group was treated with 10 μg/kg BW of Zearalenone. Animals were treated orally every day for 12 weeks. Results obtained showed that Zearalenone significantly (P < 0.05) decreased libido (by increasing the reaction time), ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, total sperm output, sperm motility (%), total motile sperms per ejaculate (TMS), packed sperm volume (PSV), total functional sperm fraction (TFSF), normal and live sperms and semen initial fructose. While, initial hydrogen ion concentration (pH) and dead and abnormal sperms were increased (P < 0.05). Live body weight (LBW), feed intake (FI) and, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and acid phosphatase (ACP) were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased. It was suggested that Zearalenone exerted a significant adverse effect on reproductive performance of male rabbits and the effects were in a dose- dependent manner.