China Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Medicine ›› 2026, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (2): 564-572.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2026.02.005

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Research Progress on the Role of Polyphenols in Alleviating Zearalenone-induced Hepatotoxicity in Animals

LI Jiahui(), LI Haonan, YANG Fan, XU Wenjing, CHEN Xiaoguang, ZHANG Ziqiang, LIU Yumei, LYU Qiongxia()   

  1. College of Animal Science and Technology,Henan University of Science and Technology,Luoyang 471023,China
  • Received:2025-05-14 Online:2026-02-20 Published:2026-01-28
  • Contact: LYU Qiongxia E-mail:15236268651@163.com;lvqx20001@163.com

Abstract:

Zearalenone (ZEA), also known as F-2 toxin, is a type of mycotoxin with estrogenic toxicity produced by Fusarium species. It is commonly found in corn, wheat, soybean meal, and other grains and their by-products. After animals consume feed contaminated with ZEA, it can cause various toxic reactions. Among them, the liver, as the main metabolic and transformation organ of ZEA, is particularly vulnerable to damage. ZEA can easily induce oxidative stress, alterations in the expression of inflammation-related factors, and apoptosis of liver cells in the liver, thereby seriously endangering human and animal health. Polyphenols, as a class of plant chemical substances with strong antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and other biological activities, mainly include two categories: Flavonoids and non-flavonoids. The author selected rutin (RUT), a flavonoid, and curcumin (CUR), a non-flavonoid, as representative compounds to explain the mechanism by which polyphenols alleviate the liver toxicity induced by ZEA in animals. Both RUT and CUR can counteract the liver toxicity of ZEA through multi-target synergistic effects, mainly through antioxidant stress, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic actions. The authors mainly reviewed the toxic effects of ZEA on animal livers and the mechanisms by which RUT and CUR alleviated ZEA induced animal liver toxicity, in order to provide a certain theoretical basis for subsequent research on polyphenols alleviating ZEA liver toxicity in animals and promoting the healthy development of animal husbandry.

Key words: polyphenols; zearalenone; hepatotoxicity; mechanism of alleviation

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