Mycotoxin Research

Fumonisin B1 (FB1 ) poses a risk to animal and human health. Although the effects of FB1 on sphingolipid metabolism are well documented, there are limited studies covering the epigenetic modifications and early molecular alterations associated with carcinogenesis pathways caused by FB1 nephrotoxicity. The present study investigates the effects of FB1 on global DNA methylation, chromatin-modifying enzymes, and histone modification levels of the p16 gene in human kidney cells (HK-2) after 24 h exposure. An increase (2...

Aflatoxins (AFs) are frequent contaminants in crops worldwide and can cause adverse health effects in exposed humans. Since foods AFs (AFB1 , AFB2 , AFG1 , AFG2 ) contamination in Sichuan Province are unexplored, we conducted a study to assess AFs exposure in the population. In total, 318 samples, including grains, red chilli, red chilli powder, and vegetable protein beverages, were collected from 13 cities of Sichuan Province, China, in 2022. AFs were detected in all types of foods except for wheat flour, the highest incidence was found in red chilli powder (75...

Zearalenone is a frequently occurring and well-known mycotoxin developed in cereals before and during the harvest period by Fusarium spp. mainly in maize and wheat. In addition to the main form, various modified forms (phase I and II metabolites) were detected, in some cases in high amounts. These modified forms can be harmful for human health due to their different toxicity, which can be much higher compared to the parent toxin. In addition, the parent toxin can be cleaved from the phase I and II metabolites during digestion...

Monascus produces a kind of mycotoxin, citrinin, whose synthetic pathway is still not entirely clear. The function of CtnD, a putative oxidoreductase located upstream of pksCT in the citrinin gene cluster, has not been reported. In this study, the CtnD overexpressed strain and the Cas9 constitutively expressed chassis strain were obtained by genetic transformation mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The pyrG and CtnD double gene-edited strains were then obtained by transforming the protoplasts of the Cas9 chassis strain with in vitro sgRNAs...

The antifungal and antiaflatoxigenic effects of four distinct plant species against Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus were investigated. Essential oils and methanolic extracts were prepared from aerial parts of Lippia javanica, Ocimum gratissimum, Satureja punctata, and stem barks of Toddalia asiatica by hydro-distillation and maceration, respectively. The poisoned food method was used to confirm the antifungal activity of essential oils and methanolic extracts from four different plant species against Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, and high-performance liquid chromatography was used to quantify the antiaflatoxigenic activity...

Deoxynivalenol is present in forage crops in concentrations that endanger animal welfare but is also found in cereal-based food. The amphipathic nature of mycotoxins allows them to cross the cell membrane and interacts with different cell organelles such as mitochondria and ribosomes. In our study, we investigated the gene expression of several genes in vivo and in vitro that are related to the metabolism. We observed a significantly higher COX5B and MHCII expression in enterocytes of DON-fed pigs compared to CON-fed pigs and a marked increase in GAPDH and SLC7A11 in DON-fed pigs, but we could not confirm this in vitro in IPEC-1...

Female pigs respond sensitive both to DON and ZEN with anorexia and endocrine disruption, respectively, when critical diet concentrations are exceeded. Therefore, the frequent co-contamination of feed by DON and ZEN requires their parallel inactivation. The additive ZenA hydrolyzes ZEN while SBS inactivates DON through sulfonation. Both supplements were simultaneously added (+, 2.5 g SBS and 100 U ZenA/kg) to a control diet (CON-, 0.04 mg DON and < 0.004 mg ZEN/kg; CON+, 0.03 mg DON and < 0...

Highland barley, also called "qingke" in Tibetan, is mainly cultivated in the Tibetan Plateau of China and has been used as a major staple food for Tibetans. Recently, Fusarium head blight (FHB) of qingke was frequently observed around the Brahmaputra River in Tibet. Considering the importance of qingke for Tibetans, the assessment of Fusarium mycotoxin contamination is essential for food safety. In this study, a total of 150 freshly harvested qingke grain samples were obtained from three regions around the Brahmaputra River in Tibet (China) in 2020...

The present work investigated the potential of fungal species from grain maize farms in Malaysia as antagonists against the indigenous mycotoxigenic fungal species and their subsequent mycotoxin production. Dual-culture assay was conducted on grain maize agar (GMA) with 12 strains of potential fungal antagonists namely Bjerkandra adusta, Penicillium janthinellum, Schizophyllum commune, Trametes cubensis, Trichoderma asperelloides, Trichoderma asperellum, Trichoderma harzianum, and Trichoderma yunnanense against seven mycotoxigenic strains namely Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium verticillioides, and Fusarium proliferatum producing aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and fumonisins, respectively...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Breakfast processed products are remarkably at risk of fungal contamination. This research surveyed the fumonisins concentration in different breakfast products and carried out in vitro experiments measuring fumonisins content in different substrates inoculated with Fusarium verticillioides. The pipeline started with the identification of combinations of ingredients for 58 breakfast products. Twenty-three core ingredients, seven nutritional components and production types were analyzed using a Pearson correlation, k-means clustering, and principal component analysis to show that no single factor is responsible for high fumonisins detection in processed cereals products...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Tenuazonic acid (TeA) is synthesized by phytopathogenic and opportunistic fungi and is detected in a broad range of foods. This natural compound is of interest in terms of toxicity to animals, but its mechanisms of action on insects are poorly understood. We administered TeA orally at different concentrations (0.2-5.0 mg/[gram of a growth medium]) to the model insect Galleria mellonella, with subsequent estimation of physiological, histological, and immunological parameters in different tissues (midgut, fat body, and hemolymph)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Dried fig is one of the most susceptible products to aflatoxin contamination. Since contaminated figs are not suitable for human consumption and cannot be used for any other purposes, they are burned in a chemical incinerator. In this study, we investigated the potential of using aflatoxin-contaminated dried figs as a raw material for ethanol production. For this purpose, contaminated dried figs (and also uncontaminated controls) were subjected to fermentation and subsequent distillation, and the alcohol and aflatoxin levels were determined during the processes...

This review updates the current status of activities related to hazard characterisation for mycotoxins, with special reference to regulatory work accomplished within the European Union. Because the relevant information on these topics is widely scattered in the scientific literature, this review intends to provide a condensed overview on the most pertinent aspects. Human health risk assessment is a procedure to estimate the nature and potential for harmful effects of mycotoxins on human health due to exposure to them via contaminated food...

Fungi of the genus Alternaria are ubiquitous in the environment. Their mycotoxins can leach out of contaminated plants or crop debris into the soil entering the plant via the roots. We aim to evaluate the importance of this entry pathway and its contribution to the overall content of Alternaria toxins (ATs) in wheat plants to better understand the soil-plant-phytopathogen system. A hydroponic cultivation system was established and wheat plants were cultivated for up to two weeks under optimal climate conditions...

An inter-laboratory study was performed in eight laboratories to evaluate the simultaneous quantification method for HT-2 toxin (HT-2), T-2 toxin (T-2), diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), neosolaniol (NES), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-AcDON), 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-AcDON), deoxynivalenol (DON), deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (D3G), nivalenol (NIV), and fusarenon-X (FUS-X) in feed. The mycotoxins in the samples were extracted with hydrous acetonitrile, purified using a multifunctional column (InertSep® VRA-3) and a phospholipid removal column (Hybrid SPE® -Phospholipid), and then quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) with atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation mode...

Populations in malaria endemic areas are frequently exposed to mycotoxin-contaminated diets. The possible toxicological outcome of co-exposure to dietary aflatoxin B1 (AFB1 ) and artemisinin-based combination therapy warrants investigation to ascertain amplification or attenuation of cellular injury. Here, we investigated the neurobehavioral and biochemical responses associated with co-exposure to anti-malarial drug coartem, an artemether-lumefantrine combination (5 mg/kg body weight, twice a day and 3 days per week) and AFB1 (35 and 70 µg/kg body weight) in rats...

Mycotoxin co-occurrence compromises the safety of food crops worldwide. Environmental factors, as well as fungal interaction, can substantially influence the infectivity of mycotoxigenic fungi and their subsequent production of multi-mycotoxin. Here, we investigated the mutual effects of the co-culture of ochratoxigenic and aflatoxigenic Aspergillus strains on the co-production of ochratoxin A (OTA) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Single cultures of ochratoxigenic A. carbonarius and A. alliaceus grew optimally at 25 °C, whereas aflatoxigenic A...