Lycopene alleviates Deoxynivalenol-induced toxicity in Porcine intestinal epithelial cells by mediating mitochondrial function

Abstract Deoxynivalenol (DON) is widely found in food and feed, posing a threat to human and animal health. Lycopene (Lyc) is a natural plant extracts with significant antioxidant properties. This study was conducted to investigate the protective effects of Lyc on IPEC-J2 cells upon DON exposure. The detection of cell viability and trypan blue staining showed that Lyc alleviated cell damage and decreased cell apoptotic rate induced by DON. The analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and antioxidant parameter measurements showed that Lyc significantly down-regulated the content of ROS and restored antioxidant enzyme activity. Furthermore, mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) detection, mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) assay and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration detection showed Lyc improved mitochondrial function after DON exposure. The results of transcriptome analysis, ROS detection and CCK8 assay suggested that Lyc may activated the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to improve mitochondrial function. Conclusively, our results suggested that Lyc alleviated DON-induced oxidative stress by improving mitochondrial function through OXPHOS signaling pathway.