Biomarkers of mycotoxins a a tool to measure the individual exposure

CHULZE , S.N

Medellin

Congreso; VIII Congreso Latinoamericano de Micologia; 2014

Sociedad Latinoamericana de Micología

Mycotoxins are currently a major health threat in human and animal populations. The mycotoxins of most importance in Latin America and worldwide, generally contaminating cereals, oily seeds and derived products are the aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxins, deoxynivalenol and zearalenone. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced mainly by species of genera Alternaria, Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium. The exposure of humans and animals by dietary intake may result in various patho-physiological effects, such as nephrotoxicity, gastro-enteric distress, hyperestrogenic conditions, cancer, etc. Therefore, exposure of human and animal populations to these compounds needs to be controlled and assessed. Risk assessment of mycotoxins can be evaluated with the help of biomarkers which provide information on biological responses following intake of the contaminated diet (biomarkers of effect) or allow the quantification of the toxicant or its biotransformation products in body fluids (biomarkers of exposure). A series of biomarkers of exposure and effect for aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxin A, zearalenone, and deoxynivalenol are available. For aflatoxins, except the possibility of quantifying the original chemicals per se in biological fluids, the hydroxylation product AFM1 is good indicator of internal exposure, while the albumin adducts and DNA adducts are markers of effect. Ochratoxin A is easily detectable in blood, urine, and milk, but its considerably long half-life makes it difficult to correlate with the level of exposure. The main biomarker for fumonisins is FB1 and the sphinganine:sphingosine ratio for animal exposure, while for deoxynivalenol exposure is evaluated by its presence in urine. For zearalenone the detection of the toxin and derivatives and ZOL in urine have been used as biomarkers of toxin exposure. Biomarkers can be useful tools to evaluate intervention strategies to reduce the human and animal populations exposure to mycotoxins.