Conjugation with the biologically relevant thiol glutathione is one of the metabolic pathways for the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in wheat. The occurrence of putative DON-cysteine conjugates has also been shown in wheat, likely in part as a result of degradation of the glutathione conjugates. It was reported that thiols react in vitro with DON at two positions: reversibly at C-10 of the α,β-unsaturated ketone and irreversibly at C-13 of the epoxy group. We synthesized pure DON-cysteine adducts and made analytical standards using quantitative NMR experiments. Compounds were characterized using NMR and LC-HRMS/MS and tested in vitro for toxicity. Cysteine conjugates were much less toxic than DON at the same concentration, and LC-HRMS analysis demonstrated that there was no detectable metabolism of the conjugates in human monocytes or human macrophages.
Keywords: DON; ERETIC; HRMS; LC−MS; Michael adduct; NMR; qNMR; thiol.