Acute Exposure to Zearalenone Disturbs Intestinal Homeostasis by Modulating the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway.

The mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEN), which frequently contaminates cereal-based human food and animal feed, is known to have an estrogenic effect. The biological response associated with exposure to ZEN has rarely been reported in organs other than the reproductive system. In the intestine, several studies suggested that ZEN might stimulate molecular changes related to the activation of early carcinogenesis, but the molecular mechanisms behind these events are not yet known.