Supporting cows fed zearalenone-contaminated diets

Zearalenone (ZEA) is a nonsteroidal estrogenic mycotoxin biosynthesized by a variety of Fusarium fungi, which are common in the soil in temperate and warm countries and are regular contaminants of cereal crops worldwide. Zearalenone and its metabolites, α-zearalenol (α-ZEL) and β-zearalenol (β-ZEL), are estrogenic substances and potential endocrine disruptors at the level of nuclear receptor signalling, altering hormone production (Figure 1). Feeds contaminated with ZEA can have strikingly