Wanda M. Haschek-Hock
Professor, Pathobiology
Professional Interests: comparative, toxicologic and respiratory pathology, natural toxins, mycotoxicoses, food safety.
The major focus of my research is on the fumonisin mycotoxins produced by Fusarium verticillioides that infest corn. Fumonisins cause species specific effects such as leukoencephalomalacia in horses and pulmonary edema in swine, as well as hepatic injury and hypercholesteremia in all species. They have been implicated in esophageal cancer and neural tube defects in humans and cause hepatic and renal cancer in rodents. Because of their structural similarity to sphingosine, fumonisins inhibit sphingosine and sphinganine N-acyl-transferases, critical enzymes in sphingolipid biosynthesis, resulting in an intracellular accumulation of sphinganine, sphingosine and their -1-phosphates, and a decrease in complex sphingolipids. These biochemical changes can affect many important cellular pathways including cell signaling. We have found that fumonisins induce cardiovascular injury in horses and swine; in swine, cardiovascular injury is responsible for pulmonary edema. Fumonisins also have an adverse effect on the immune system which may predispose swine, and potentially other species, to infectious diseases. Therefore, fumonsins are a food safety issue.
Educational activities include teaching pathology at the professional and graduate levels, and toxicologic pathology at the graduate and continuing education levels; serving as Director of the biannual Industrial Toxicology and Pathology Course and Co-Director of the Training Program in Toxicologic Pathology, a specialty in the department’s graduate program. Public outreach activities include service in the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Professional society membership includes the Society of Toxicologic Pathology, American College of Veterinary Pathologists (Diplomate), Society of Toxicology, American Board of Toxicology (Diplomate) and CL Davis Foundation (Advisory Committee). She is currently serving as Associate Editor for Toxicologic Pathology.
Selected Publications:
Haschek WM and CG Rousseaux, eds. (1997) "Fundamentals of Toxicologic Pathology." Academic Press.
Haschek WM, CG Rousseaux and MA Wallig, eds. (2002) A Handbook of Toxicologic Pathology, Volumes I and II, Second Edition. Academic Press.
Haschek, WM, HP Witschi, and K Nikula. (2002). Respiratory system. In: Handbook of Toxicologic Pathology,@ 2nd ed., Volume 2. W. M. Haschek, C. G. Rousseaux, M. A. Wallig, eds. Academic Press, pp. 3-83.
Haschek, WM, KA Voss, VR Beasley. (2002). Selected Mycotoxins Affecting Animal and Human Health. In: Handbook of Toxicologic Pathology, 2nd ed., Volume 1. W. M. Haschek, C. G. Rousseaux, M. A. Wallig, eds. Academic Press, pp. 645-699.
Haschek, WM, LA Gumprecht, G Smith, ME Tumbleson, PD Constable (2001). Fumonisin toxicosis in swine: An overview of porcine pulmonary edema and current perspectives. Env Hlth Persp 109 (suppl 2):251-257.
Foreman JH, PD Constable, AL Waggoner, M Levy, RM Eppley, GW Smith, ME Tumbleson, WM Haschek. (2004) Equine leukoencephalomalacia: Neurological abnormalities and cerebrospinal fluid changes in horses administered fumonisin B 1 intravenously. Am J Vet Int Med 18: 223-230.
Sundberg JP, WM Haschek, R Hackman and H HogenEsch. (2004). Developing a comprehensive mouse pathology program. Comp Med 54:615-619.
Hsiao, S-H, PD Constable, GW Smith and WM Haschek (2005). Effects of sphinganine, sphingosine, and sphingosine-1-phosphate on relaxation and contraction of porcine thoracic aortic and pulmonary arterial rings. Toxicol Sci. 86:194-199.
Chen HA, A Khan, F Liu, DM Gilligan, LL Peters, J Messick, WM Haschek-Hock, X Li, AE Ostafin, and AH Chishti (2007). Combined deletion of mouse dematin-headpiece and beta-adducin exerts a novel effect on the spectrin-actin junctions leading to erythrocyte fragility and hemolytic anemia. J Biol Chem. 282:4124-4135.
Hsiao, S-H, PD Constable, ME Tumbleson and WM Haschek (2007) Use of formalin-fixed tissues to determine fumonisin B1 induced sphingolipid alterations in swine J Vet Diagn Invest. 19, 425-430
Voss, KA, GW Smith and WM Haschek (2007). Fumonisins: Toxicokinetics, mechanism of action and toxicity. An Feed Sci Technol, 137:299-325.
Allison, S, JE Artwohl, JD Fortman, S Pogwizd, S Koske, M Pinkerton, WM Haschek JB Messick (2007). Iatrogenic hemolytic anemia and endocarditis in New Zealand White rabbits secondary to Achromobacter xylosoxidans infection. J Am Assos Lab An Sci. 46 (6): 58-62.
