fumonisin-b2 and nivalenol

Bio-monitoring of human exposure to mycotoxin has mostly been limited to a few individually measured mycotoxin biomarkers. This study aimed to determine the frequency and level of exposure to multiple mycotoxins in human urine from Cameroonian adults. 175 Urine samples (83% from HIV-positive individuals) and food frequency questionnaire responses were collected from consenting Cameroonians, and analyzed for 15 mycotoxins and relevant metabolites using LC-ESI-MS/MS. In total, eleven analytes were detected individually or in combinations in 110/175 (63%) samples including the biomarkers aflatoxin M1, fumonisin B1, ochratoxin A and total deoxynivalenol. Additionally, important mycotoxins and metabolites thereof, such as fumonisin B2, nivalenol and zearalenone, were determined, some for the first time in urine following dietary exposures. Multi-mycotoxin contamination was common with one HIV-positive individual exposed to five mycotoxins, a severe case of co-exposure that has never been reported in adults before. For the first time in Africa or elsewhere, this study quantified eleven mycotoxin biomarkers and bio-measures in urine from adults. For several mycotoxins estimates indicate that the tolerable daily intake is being exceeded in this study population. Given that many mycotoxins adversely affect the immune system, future studies will examine whether combinations of mycotoxins negatively impact Cameroonian population particularly immune-suppressed individuals.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Biomarkers; Cameroon; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Monitoring; Feeding Behavior; Female; Food Contamination; Fumonisins; Glucuronides; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Mycotoxins; No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level; Ochratoxins; Surveys and Questionnaires; Trichothecenes; Young Adult; Zearalenone

Corn samples collected from the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia were surveyed for the natural occurrence of Fusarium mycotoxins (fumonisins, trichothecenes, and zearalenone) and aflatoxins. Fumonisins B1 and B2 were found in over 50% of corn samples in individual countries, and their co-occurrences with aflatoxins at the incidence of 48% were noted. In addition to these mycotoxins, a trichothecene, nivalenol, and an estrogen, zearalenone, both mycotoxins of Fusarium species, were detected in these Southeast Asian samples. This is the first report on the simultaneous occurrence of two carcinogenic mycotoxins, fumonisins and aflatoxins, together with Fusarium mycotoxins (nivalenol and zearlenone) in corn from Asian tropics.

Topics: Aflatoxins; Animals; Asia, Southeastern; Carcinogens, Environmental; Fumonisins; Fusarium; Humans; Mycotoxins; Trichothecenes; Zea mays; Zearalenone

A shipment of South African corn (1989) exported to Taiwan, was analyzed for various ear-rot fungi and Fusarium mycotoxins. Two sets of samples, one from the points of origin in South Africa prior to shipment, and the other from the end-point distributors in Taiwan, were studied. Surface-sterilized kernels were plated onto two different agar media and the fungal colonies identified. High Performance Liquid Chromatography was used to analyze mycotoxin levels. The predominant ear-rot fungi, in decreasing order of isolation frequency, were Fusarium subglutinans, F. moniliforme, Diploidia maydis and F. graminearum. Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus were not isolated from samples prior to export, but a small number of A. flavus isolates were found after shipment. The predominant mycotoxins were fumonisins B1 (0-865 ng/g) and B2 (0-250 ng/g). Low levels of moniliformin (< or = 390 ng/g) were detected in some samples before shipment. Zearalenone (25 ng/g), and nivalenol (120 ng/g) were detected in two out of 32 samples taken in Taiwan. The samples contained no detectable levels of either aflatoxins (> 0.5 ng/g) or deoxynivalenol (> 100 ng/g) before or after shipment.

Topics: Aspergillus; Aspergillus flavus; Carcinogens, Environmental; Cyclobutanes; Food Contamination; Food Microbiology; Fumonisins; Fungi; Fusarium; Mycotoxins; South Africa; Taiwan; Trichothecenes; Zea mays; Zearalenone