Assessment of Multi-Mycotoxin Exposure in Southern Italy by Urinary Multi-Biomarker Determination

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Human exposure assessment to deoxynivalenol (DON), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), fumonisin B1 (FB1), zearalenone (ZEA) and ochratoxin A (OTA) can be performed by measuring their urinary biomarkers. Suitable biomarkers of exposure for these mycotoxins are DON + de-epoxydeoxynivalenol (DOM-1), aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), FB ₁, ZEA + α-zearalenol (α-ZOL) + β-zearalenol (β-ZOL) and OTA, respectively. An UPLC-MS/MS multi-biomarker method was used to detect and measure incidence and levels of these biomarkers in urine samples of 52 volunteers resident in Apulia region in Southern Italy. The presence of ZEA + ZOLs, OTA, DON, FB1 and AFM1 were detected in 100%, 100%, 96%, 56% and 6%, of samples, respectively. All samples contained biomarkers of two or more mycotoxins. The mean concentrations of biomarkers ranged from 0.055 ng/mL (FB1) to 11.89 ng/mL (DON). Urinary biomarker concentrations were used to estimate human exposure to multiple mycotoxin. For OTA and DON, 94% and 40% of volunteers, respectively exceeded the tolerable daily intake (TDI) for these mycotoxins. The estimated human exposure to FB1 and ZEA was largely below the TDI for these mycotoxins for all volunteers.

Related collections

Most cited references 42

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Deoxynivalenol and other selected Fusarium toxins in Swedish wheat--occurrence and correlation to specific Fusarium species.

Mats Lindblad, Michael Sulyok, Ann Gidlund … (2013)

Wheat is often infected by Fusarium species producing mycotoxins, which may pose health risks to humans and animals. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is the most important Fusarium toxin in Swedish wheat and has previously been shown to be produced mainly by Fusarium graminearum. However, less is known about the co-occurrence of DON and F. graminearum with other toxins and Fusarium species in Sweden. This study examined the distribution of the most important toxigenic Fusarium species and their toxins in winter wheat (2009 and 2011) and spring wheat (2010 and 2011). DNA from seven species was quantified with qPCR and the toxin levels were quantified with a multitoxin analysis method based on liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS/MS). The method enabled detection of many fungal metabolites, including DON, zearalenone (ZEA), nivalenol (NIV), T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxins, moniliformin (MON), beauvericin (BEA), and enniatins (ENNs). It was found that Fusarium poae and Fusarium avenaceum were present in almost all samples. Other common Fusarium species were F. graminearum and F. culmorum, present in more than 70% of samples. Several species occurred at lower DNA levels in 2011 than in other years, but the reverse was true for F. graminearum and Fusarium langsethiae. The most prevalent toxins were ENNs, present in 100% of samples. DON was also common, especially in spring wheat, whereas ZEA and NIV were common in 2009 and in winter wheat, but less common in 2011 and in spring wheat. Only three samples of spring wheat contained T-2 or HT-2 above LOQ. Annual mean levels of several mycotoxins were significantly lower in 2011 than in other years, but the reverse applied for DON. The strongest correlations between mycotoxin and Fusarium DNA levels were found between F. avenaceum and ENNs (r(2) = 0.67) and MON (r(2) = 0.62), and F. graminearum and DON (r(2) = 0.74). These results show that several Fusarium species and toxins co-occur in wheat. The highest toxin levels were detected in spring wheat and DON and ENNs, the latter belonging to the group of so called "emerging toxins", which were the most prevalent toxins and those occurring at the highest levels. © 2013.

0 comments Cited 53 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

The role of biomarkers in evaluating human health concerns from fungal contaminants in food.

J. Flannery, P. Turner, Mariyam Saif Salim Humaid Bin Bader Al Ali … (2012)

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites that globally contaminate an estimated 25 % of cereal crops and thus exposure is frequent in many populations. Aflatoxins, fumonisins and deoxynivalenol are amongst those mycotoxins of particular concern from a human health perspective. A number of risks to health are suggested including cancer, growth faltering, immune suppression and neural tube defects; though only the demonstrated role for aflatoxin in the aetiology of liver cancer is widely recognised. The heterogeneous distribution of mycotoxins in food restricts the usefulness of food sampling and intake estimates; instead biomarkers provide better tools for informing epidemiological investigations. Validated exposure biomarkers for aflatoxin (urinary aflatoxin M(1), aflatoxin-N7-guaunine, serum aflatoxin-albumin) were established almost 20 years ago and were critical in confirming aflatoxins as potent liver carcinogens. Validation has included demonstration of assay robustness, intake v. biomarker level, and stability of stored samples. More recently, aflatoxin exposure biomarkers are revealing concerns of growth faltering and immune suppression; importantly, they are being used to assess the effectiveness of intervention strategies. For fumonisins and deoxynivalenol these steps of development and validation have significantly advanced in recent years. Such biomarkers should better inform epidemiological studies and thus improve our understanding of their potential risk to human health.

0 comments Cited 49 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Simultaneous LC-MS/MS determination of aflatoxin M1, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, de-epoxydeoxynivalenol, α and β-zearalenols and fumonisin B1 in urine as a multi-biomarker method to assess exposure to mycotoxins.

Michele Solfrizzo, Angelo Visconti, Stephen J. Powers … (2011)

Humans and animals can be simultaneously exposed through the diet to different mycotoxins, including aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and fumonisins, which are the most important. Evaluation of the frequency and levels of human and animal exposure to these mycotoxins can be performed by measuring the levels of the relevant biomarkers in urine. Available data on the toxicokinetics of these mycotoxins in animals suggest that aflatoxin M(1) (AFM(1)), ochratoxin A (OTA), deoxynivalenol (DON)/de-epoxydeoxynivalenol (DOM-1), alpha-zearalenol (α-ZOL)/beta-zearalenol (β-ZOL), and fumonisin B(1) (FB(1)) can be used as urinary biomarkers. A liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric method has been developed for simultaneous determination of these mycotoxin biomarkers in human or animal urine. Urine samples were purified and concentrated by a double cleanup approach, using a multitoxin immunoaffinity column and a reversed-phase SPE Oasis HLB column. Separation of the biomarkers was performed by reversed-phase chromatography using a multi-step linear methanol-water gradient containing 0.5% acetic acid as mobile phase. Detection and quantification of the biomarkers were performed by triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). The clean-up conditions were optimised to obtain maximum analyte recovery and high sensitivity. Recovery from spiked samples was performed at four levels in the range 0.03-12 ng mL(-1), using matrix-matched calibration curves for quantification. Mean recoveries of the biomarkers tested ranged from 62 to 96% with relative standard deviations of 3-20%. Enzymatic digestion with β-glucuronidase/sulfatase resulted in increased concentrations of the biomarkers, in both human and pig urine, in most samples containing measurable concentrations of DON, DOM-1, OTA, α-ZOL, or β-ZOL. A highly variable increase was observed between individuals. Co-occurrence of OTA and DON in human urine is reported herein for the first time.

0 comments Cited 48 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Toxins (Basel)

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Toxins (Basel)

Journal ID (publisher-id): toxins

Title: Toxins

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Electronic): 2072-6651

Publication date (Electronic): 28 January 2014

Publication date Collection: February 2014

Volume: 6

Issue: 2

Pages: 523-538

Affiliations

Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), National Research Council (CNR), Bari 70126, Italy; E-Mails: lucia.gambacorta@ 123456ispa.cnr.it (L.G.); angelo.visconti@ 123456ispa.cnr.it (A.V.)

Author notes

[* ]Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: michele.solfrizzo@ 123456ispa.cnr.it ; Tel.: +39-080-592-9367; Fax: +39-080-592-9374.

Article

Publisher ID: toxins-06-00523

DOI: 10.3390/toxins6020523

PMC ID: 3942749

PubMed ID: 24476712

SO-VID: fbdc277e-1181-4b47-ab5b-2f7772d50dc2

License:

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

History

Date received : 13 December 2013

Date revision received : 13 January 2014

Date accepted : 21 January 2014

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Cited by 66

See all cited by

Most referenced authors 390

See all reference authors

Assessment of Multi-Mycotoxin Exposure in Southern Italy by Urinary Multi-Biomarker Determination

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Biomarkers for Inflammatory Lung Disease

Most cited references 42

Deoxynivalenol and other selected Fusarium toxins in Swedish wheat--occurrence and correlation to specific Fusarium species.

The role of biomarkers in evaluating human health concerns from fungal contaminants in food.

Simultaneous LC-MS/MS determination of aflatoxin M1, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, de-epoxydeoxynivalenol, α and β-zearalenols and fumonisin B1 in urine as a multi-biomarker method to assess exposure to mycotoxins.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 162

Cited by 66

Most referenced authors 390