A new laboratory study reports that astragaloside IV, a compound derived from Astragalus membranaceus, mitigated cellular damage caused by T-2 toxin exposure by preserving mitochondrial function and reducing programmed cell death.
T-2 is a trichothecene mycotoxin produced by Fusarium species and is structurally related to the trichothecenes implicated in water-damaged building exposures. Researchers exposed cells to T-2 with and without astragaloside IV pretreatment and observed that the supplemented cells retained mitochondrial homeostasis and showed reduced markers of apoptosis.
The findings, published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, add to a growing literature on natural compounds that may attenuate trichothecene cytotoxicity. The work is preclinical, and the authors do not make clinical claims.