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Toxins Feb 2020The study of fungal species evolved radically with the development of molecular techniques and produced new evidence to understand specific fungal mechanisms such as the... (Review)
Review
The study of fungal species evolved radically with the development of molecular techniques and produced new evidence to understand specific fungal mechanisms such as the production of toxic secondary metabolites. Taking advantage of these technologies to improve food safety, the molecular study of toxinogenic species can help elucidate the mechanisms underlying toxin production and enable the development of new effective strategies to control fungal toxicity. Numerous studies have been made on genes involved in aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) production, one of the most hazardous carcinogenic toxins for humans and animals. The current review presents the roles of these different genes and their possible impact on AFB1 production. We focus on the toxinogenic strains and primary contaminants and major producers of AFB1 in crops. However, genetic reports on are also included because of the capacity of this fungus to produce sterigmatocystin, the penultimate stable metabolite during AFB1 production. The aim of this review is to provide a general overview of the AFB1 enzymatic biosynthesis pathway and its link with the genes belonging to the AFB1 cluster. It also aims to illustrate the role of global environmental factors on aflatoxin production and the recent data that demonstrate an interconnection between genes regulated by these environmental signals and aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway.
Topics: Aflatoxins; Animals; Gene-Environment Interaction; Humans
PubMed: 32121226
DOI: 10.3390/toxins12030150 -
Toxins May 2018Aflatoxins are fungal metabolites found in feeds and foods. When the ruminants eat feedstuffs containing Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), this toxin is metabolized and Aflatoxin M1... (Review)
Review
Aflatoxins are fungal metabolites found in feeds and foods. When the ruminants eat feedstuffs containing Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), this toxin is metabolized and Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is excreted in milk. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified AFB1 and AFM1 as human carcinogens belonging to Group 1 and Group 2B, respectively, with the formation of DNA adducts. In the last years, some epidemiological studies were conducted on cancer patients aimed to evaluate the effects of AFB1 and AFM1 exposure on cancer cells in order to verify the correlation between toxin exposure and cancer cell proliferation and invasion. In this review, we summarize the activation pathways of AFB1 and AFM1 and the data already reported in literature about their correlation with cancer development and progression. Moreover, considering that few data are still reported about what genes/proteins/miRNAs can be used as damage markers due to AFB1 and AFM1 exposure, we performed a bioinformatic analysis based on interaction network and miRNA predictions to identify a panel of genes/proteins/miRNAs that can be used as targets in further studies for evaluating the effects of the damages induced by AFB1 and AFM1 and their capacity to induce cancer initiation.
Topics: Aflatoxin B1; Aflatoxin M1; Animals; Gene Expression; Humans; Neoplasms; Protein Interaction Maps
PubMed: 29794965
DOI: 10.3390/toxins10060214 -
Toxins Apr 2022Aflatoxin, a type of mycotoxin, is mostly produced by and It is responsible for the loss of billions of dollars to the world economy, by contaminating different crops... (Review)
Review
Aflatoxin, a type of mycotoxin, is mostly produced by and It is responsible for the loss of billions of dollars to the world economy, by contaminating different crops such as cotton, groundnut, maize, and chilies, and causing immense effects on the health of humans and animals. More than eighteen different types of aflatoxins have been reported to date, and among them, aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 are the most prevalent and lethal. Early detection of fungal infection plays a key role in the control of aflatoxin contamination. Therefore, different methods, including culture, chromatographic techniques, and molecular assays, are used to determine aflatoxin contamination in crops and food products. Many countries have set a maximum limit of aflatoxin contamination (2-20 ppb) in their food and agriculture commodities for human or animal consumption, and the use of different methods to combat this menace is essential. Fungal infection mostly takes place during the pre- and post-harvest stage of crops, and most of the methods to control aflatoxin are employed for the latter phase. Studies have shown that if correct measures are adopted during the crop development phase, aflatoxin contamination can be reduced by a significant level. Currently, the use of bio-pesticides is the intervention employed in many countries, whereby atoxigenic strains competitively reduce the burden of toxigenic strains in the field, thereby helping to mitigate this problem. This updated review on aflatoxins sheds light on the sources of contamination, and the on occurrence, impact, detection techniques, and management strategies, with a special emphasis on bio-pesticides to control aflatoxins.
Topics: Aflatoxins; Animals; Aspergillus flavus; Crops, Agricultural; Pesticides; Zea mays
PubMed: 35622554
DOI: 10.3390/toxins14050307 -
Toxins Jun 2021In the early 1960s the discovery of aflatoxins began when a total of 100,000 turkey poults died by hitherto unknown turkey "X" disease in England. The disease was... (Review)
Review
In the early 1960s the discovery of aflatoxins began when a total of 100,000 turkey poults died by hitherto unknown turkey "X" disease in England. The disease was associated with Brazilian groundnut meal affected by . The toxin was named toxin-aflatoxin. From the point of view of agriculture, aflatoxins show the utmost importance. Until now, a total of 20 aflatoxins have been described, with B, B, G, and G aflatoxins being the most significant. Contamination by aflatoxins is a global health problem. Aflatoxins pose acutely toxic, teratogenic, immunosuppressive, carcinogenic, and teratogenic effects. Besides food insecurity and human health, aflatoxins affect humanity at different levels, such as social, economical, and political. Great emphasis is placed on aflatoxin mitigation using biocontrol methods. Thus, this review is focused on aflatoxins in terms of historical development, the principal milestones of aflatoxin research, and recent data on their toxicity and different ways of mitigation.
Topics: Aflatoxins; Animals; Food Contamination; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans
PubMed: 34205163
DOI: 10.3390/toxins13060399 -
Nature Chemical Biology Feb 2016Changes in cellular gene expression in response to small-molecule or genetic perturbations have yielded signatures that can connect unknown mechanisms of action (MoA) to...
Changes in cellular gene expression in response to small-molecule or genetic perturbations have yielded signatures that can connect unknown mechanisms of action (MoA) to ones previously established. We hypothesized that differential basal gene expression could be correlated with patterns of small-molecule sensitivity across many cell lines to illuminate the actions of compounds whose MoA are unknown. To test this idea, we correlated the sensitivity patterns of 481 compounds with ∼19,000 basal transcript levels across 823 different human cancer cell lines and identified selective outlier transcripts. This process yielded many novel mechanistic insights, including the identification of activation mechanisms, cellular transporters and direct protein targets. We found that ML239, originally identified in a phenotypic screen for selective cytotoxicity in breast cancer stem-like cells, most likely acts through activation of fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2). These data and analytical tools are available to the research community through the Cancer Therapeutics Response Portal.
Topics: Aflatoxins; Blotting, Western; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Line, Tumor; Computer Simulation; Drug Delivery Systems; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Humans; Molecular Structure; Principal Component Analysis; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Small Molecule Libraries
PubMed: 26656090
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.1986 -
International Journal of Environmental... Aug 2018In Mozambique, aflatoxin research started in the 1960's and has been carried through apparently unrelated efforts according to opportunities. However, they can be... (Review)
Review
In Mozambique, aflatoxin research started in the 1960's and has been carried through apparently unrelated efforts according to opportunities. However, they can be grouped in two sets: early epidemiological studies and recent agricultural research. Early investigators found a strong correlation between aflatoxin contamination and primary liver cancer. Since then, there have been efforts to examine the extent of contamination, especially in groundnuts and maize. More recent investigations and interventions aimed mostly to reduce the level of contamination, enough to allow such commodities to gain acceptance in the international market. The current status of knowledge is still marginal but the increasing involvement of local authorities, academia, and international organizations seems promising.
Topics: Aflatoxins; Food Contamination; Foodborne Diseases; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Liver Neoplasms; Mozambique
PubMed: 30087243
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15081673 -
Toxins Jan 2021Mycotoxin contamination causes significant economic loss to food and feed industries and seriously threatens human health. Aflatoxins (AFs) are one of the most harmful... (Review)
Review
Mycotoxin contamination causes significant economic loss to food and feed industries and seriously threatens human health. Aflatoxins (AFs) are one of the most harmful mycotoxins, which are produced by , , and other fungi that are commonly found in the production and preservation of grain and feed. AFs can cause harm to animal and human health due to their toxic (carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic) effects. How to remove AF has become a major problem: biological methods cause no contamination, have high specificity, and work at high temperature, affording environmental protection. In the present research, microorganisms with detoxification effects researched in recent years are reviewed, the detoxification mechanism of microbes on AFs, the safety of degrading enzymes and reaction products formed in the degradation process, and the application of microorganisms as detoxification strategies for AFs were investigated. One of the main aims of the work is to provide a reliable reference strategy for biological detoxification of AFs.
Topics: Aflatoxins; Animals; Food Contamination; Humans; Lactobacillus; Saccharomyces
PubMed: 33435382
DOI: 10.3390/toxins13010046 -
Toxins Jan 2022Aflatoxins B (AFB) and G (AFG) are carcinogenic mycotoxins that contaminate crops such as maize and groundnuts worldwide. The broadly accepted method to assess chronic...
Aflatoxins B (AFB) and G (AFG) are carcinogenic mycotoxins that contaminate crops such as maize and groundnuts worldwide. The broadly accepted method to assess chronic human aflatoxin exposure is by quantifying the amount of aflatoxin adducted to human serum albumin. This has been reported using ELISA, HPLC, or LC-MS/MS to measure the amount of AFB-lysine released after proteolysis of serum albumin. LC-MS/MS is the most accurate method but requires both isotopically labelled and unlabelled AFB-lysine standards, which are not commercially available. In this work, we report a simplified synthetic route to produce unlabelled, deuterated and C N labelled aflatoxin B-lysine and for the first-time aflatoxin G-lysine. Additionally, we report on the stability of these compounds during storage. This simplified synthetic approach will make the production of these important standards more feasible for laboratories performing aflatoxin exposure studies.
Topics: Aflatoxin B1; Aflatoxins; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Lysine; Mycotoxins; Tandem Mass Spectrometry
PubMed: 35051035
DOI: 10.3390/toxins14010056 -
Toxins Jul 2023Aflatoxins are potent carcinogenic compounds, mainly produced by fungi species of the genus in the soil. Because of their stability, they are difficult to remove... (Review)
Review
Aflatoxins are potent carcinogenic compounds, mainly produced by fungi species of the genus in the soil. Because of their stability, they are difficult to remove completely, even under extreme conditions. Aflatoxin contamination is one of the main causes of safety in peanuts, maize, wheat and other agricultural products. Aflatoxin contamination originates from the soil. Through the investigation of soil properties and soil microbial distribution, the sources of aflatoxin are identified, aflatoxin contamination is classified and analysed, and post-harvest crop detoxification and corresponding contamination prevention measures are identified. This includes the team's recent development of the biofungicide ARC-BBBE (Aflatoxin Rhizobia Couple-, . , . , . ) for field application and nanomaterials for post-production detoxification of cereals and oilseed crops, providing an effective and feasible approach for the prevention and control of aflatoxin contamination. Finally, it is hoped that effective preventive and control measures can be applied to a large number of cereal and oilseed crops.
Topics: Aflatoxins; Soil; Aflatoxin B1; Agriculture; Arachis; Crops, Agricultural; Edible Grain
PubMed: 37624232
DOI: 10.3390/toxins15080475 -
Toxins Dec 2022Aflatoxin can cross the blood-brain barrier, damage brain tissues, and have the potential to harm the development of the human brain. Although dietary aflatoxin exposure...
Aflatoxin can cross the blood-brain barrier, damage brain tissues, and have the potential to harm the development of the human brain. Although dietary aflatoxin exposure is common in children, there is a paucity of data on aflatoxin exposure and child developmental outcomes. The child's cognitive, motor, and language functions were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III or BSID-III at the same time points. Association between exposure to aflatoxin and subtests of BSID-III were examined using mixed-effect linear regression. Aflatoxin assays were performed on 194, 167, and 163 children at 15, 24, and 36 months of age, and chronic aflatoxin exposure was detected in 20.6%, 16.8%, and 60.7% of children, respectively. Multi-variable analyses showed that aflatoxin exposure was independently related to the children's cognitive score (β: -0.69; 95% CI: -1.36, -0.02), receptive language score (β: -0.90; 95% CI: -1.62, -0.17), and expressive language score (β: -1.01; 95% CI: -1.96, -0.05). We did not observe any association between exposure to aflatoxin and the motor function of children. Chronic exposure to aflatoxin exposure was linked to reduced cognitive, expressive, and receptive language scores of the study children. Further research is needed in a different setting to confirm this novel finding.
Topics: Child, Preschool; Humans; Infant; Bangladesh; Child Development; Cognition; Language Development; Longitudinal Studies; Aflatoxins; Dietary Exposure
PubMed: 36548752
DOI: 10.3390/toxins14120855