Diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS)

Diacetoxyscirpenol is a mycotoxin from the group of type A trichothecenes. It is a secondary metabolite product of fungi of the genus Fusarium and may cause toxicosis in farm animals. To test the concept that human oesophageal cancer is initiated by nitrosamines and potentiated by consumption of food contaminated by mycotoxins produced by Fusaria, the effect of the trichothecene mycotoxin diacetoxyscirpenol (DS), alone and in combination with N-nitroso-N-methylbenzylamine (NMBzA), on rat oesophagus was studied. Chronic treatment with DS induced oesophageal hyperplasia, but simultaneous treatment with NMBzA tended to inhibit rather than to enhance carcinogenesis. The mycotoxin did not inhibit O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase in oesophagus and produced a marked induction of repair protein in liver.