{"id":43684,"date":"2025-01-16T10:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T09:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/?p=43684"},"modified":"2025-11-26T10:06:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T09:06:05","slug":"study-links-mycotoxins-in-crops-and-food-to-reproductive-challenges-in-ivf-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/2025\/01\/study-links-mycotoxins-in-crops-and-food-to-reproductive-challenges-in-ivf-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"Study Links Mycotoxins in Crops and Food to Reproductive Challenges in IVF Patients"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mycotoxins found in crops and foodstuff may impact reproductive outcome in women undergoing in vitro fertilization, a new clinical study<\/a> by Semmelweis University and the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences suggests. The research is the first to confirm the presence of toxins produced by molds in the follicular fluid and may help uncover reasons for infertility of unknown cause.<\/div>\n

Semmelweis University, together with the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), investigated the presence of mycotoxins in the follicular fluid of women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).<\/p>\n

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Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins produced by molds on crops and foodstuffs like grains, nuts, spices, and dried fruits. They can cause oxidative stress, DNA damage, and even cancer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While they also pose a fertility risk, their impact on women\u2019s reproductive health has not been researched.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to understand the mechanisms through which mycotoxins affect follicle development and consequently IVF success\u201d, says dr. Levente S\u00e1ra, associate professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Semmelweis University, corresponding author of the study.<\/p>\n

Twenty-five patients were included in the study, whose follicular fluid and blood samples were analyzed for most common mycotoxins: Deoxynivalenol (DON), \u03b1-Zearalenol (\u03b1-ZOL) and Zearalenone (ZEN), total aflatoxins (AFs), Fumonisin B1 (FB1), T-2\/HT-2 toxins. These substances, which occur mostly in agricultural crops; grains, cottonseed, peanuts, etc., can enter the follicular fluid from the bloodstream, where they may cause inflammation, oxidative stress, and hormonal imbalance\/disruption in the endocrine system.<\/p>\n

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All mycotoxins examined were detected in the follicular fluid of the patients, even when they were not found in the blood plasma at the same time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Levels of DON, \u03b1-ZOL, ZEN, and total aflatoxins were significantly higher in the follicular fluid than in the blood. The researchers found a correlation between estradiol concentrations and the presence and levels of ZEN, one of the most abundant xenoestrogens in the follicular fluid suggesting they reinforce each other by increasing the number of estrogen receptors. They also found high levels of Fumonisin B1 has had a positive effect on the ratio of follicles to oocytes retrieved.<\/p>\n

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Our study confirms the presence of mycotoxins in follicular fluid and suggests that mycotoxins may influence reproductive outcomes, including oocyte\/egg cell quality and hormone levels<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

, says first author dr. Apolka Szentirmay of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Semmelweis University.<\/p>\n

Follicular fluid plays an essential role in oocyte (egg cell) maturation and fertility. Disturbances in its composition can negatively affect fertility as hormones like estradiol and progesterone in the follicular fluid are linked to successful oocyte maturation and pregnancy outcomes.<\/div>\n

Senior research fellow dr. Zsuzsanna Sz\u0151ke of the Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology at MATE, corresponding author of the study emphasized that \u201cin this field, research with a multidisciplinary approach\u2014utilizing the combined results from human and agricultural sciences\u2014seeks to identify the causes of infertility of unknown origin. Facing the distinct challenges across obstetrics and gynecology, embryology, toxicology, biotechnology, and analytics, our multidisciplinary team has succeeded in uncovering new insights into how exposure to mycotoxins in follicular fluid impacts follicular development.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chronic, low-dose exposure to these toxins may have long-term effects on reproductive health, the authors note stressing the need for better monitoring of mycotoxin contamination in the food chain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The research was granted by the Richter Research Grant RG-IPI-2023-TP17\/026 and by the Hungarian National Laboratory Project, grant number RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00007, Agribiotechnology and Precision Breeding for Food Security National Laboratory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zs\u00f3fia V\u00e9gh<\/p>\n

Cover photo (illustration): iStock by Getty Images – asadykov<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The authors stress the need for better monitoring of mycotoxin contamination in the food chain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102059,"featured_media":43686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[270,13,286],"tags":[331,261,29],"class_list":["post-43684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","category-science","category-x-nyitolap","tag-infertility","tag-press","tag-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102059"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43684"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46644,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43684\/revisions\/46644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}