Review

Authors: Mojtaba Ehsanifar, Reihane Rajati, Akram Gholami...

Gene-environment interaction is an emerging hypothesis to explain the increased incidence of neurological disorders. In this context, the health and clinical effects of exposure to air pollutants have received increasing attention. One of these pollutants is the growth of fungi and molds in the form of multicellular filaments, known as hyphae. Fungi and molds not only grow in outdoor environments, but they also thrive indoors with excessive moisture, producing mycotoxins. Mold enters the body through the nose via the olfactory neurons, which directly communicate with the brain. Mycotoxins induce toxicological effects similar to those associated with brain disorders such as oxidative stress and inflammation. One mold species can produce several different mycotoxins, and one mycotoxin can be produced by several different molds. Even a small amount of mold growth in the air conditioners and their ducts or the panels inside the buildings and even the cars cause the occupants to be chronically exposed to and constantly inhaling spores and mycotoxins, which causes illness. In this review, we focused on mold and mycotoxin exposure and brain disorders.

Topics: Mycotoxins; Air Pollution, Indoor; Fungi; Brain Diseases

PubMed: 38176924
DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2206137

Review

Authors: J W Bennett, M Klich

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by microfungi that are capable of causing disease and death in humans and other animals. Because of their pharmacological activity, some mycotoxins or mycotoxin derivatives have found use as antibiotics, growth promotants, and other kinds of drugs; still others have been implicated as chemical warfare agents. This review focuses on the most important ones associated with human and veterinary diseases, including aflatoxin, citrinin, ergot akaloids, fumonisins, ochratoxin A, patulin, trichothecenes, and zearalenone.

Topics: Aflatoxins; Air Pollution, Indoor; Animals; Bioterrorism; Citrinin; Ergot Alkaloids; Food Microbiology; Fumonisins; Humans; Mycotoxins; Trichothecenes; Zearalenone

PubMed: 12857779
DOI: 10.1128/CMR.16.3.497-516.2003

Review

Authors: Jan Lehmbeck, Birgitte Andersen, Javier Sáez-Sáez...

Advanced industrial strains of Aspergillus oryzae have been used for decades for the production of recombinant proteins including food and feed enzymes at large scale. The A. oryzae strain lineage evaluated in this review derives from the proprietary Novozymes (now Novonesis) strain collection. A. oryzae wild-type strains have the potential to produce three different mycotoxins (aflatoxins (AFL), cyclopiazonic acid (CPA), and 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NPA)). Here, we review the work originally performed at Novozymes to identify a strain (BECh1) that contained a large chromosomal deletion comprising both AFL and CPA gene clusters, significantly improving the safety of the lineage. The description of the deleted region is presented here. As the genetic basis for 3-NPA biosynthesis was recently revealed, we describe here that this A. oryzae lineage contains an additional large deletion that encompasses the 3-NPA biosynthetic genes npaA and npaB, thereby rendering the strains unable to produce any mycotoxin. Further strain development has resulted in strains devoid of penicillin production by inactivation of the penicillin G gene cluster (penG). This strain lineage represents the first example of mycotoxin-free A. oryzae for production of recombinant (alternative) novel food proteins. Recently, bovine beta-lactoglobulin made using a strain of this lineage has received GRAS status and can be commercialized for use in food in the USA. With its history of safe use in food and feed, the lack of toxigenic potential and the ability to differentiate strains with modern technologies, this A. oryzae strain can be considered safe as other organisms with a Quality Presumption of Safety (QPS) status in Europe. QPS is not applicable to filamentous fungi and only granted at the species level to bacteria and a few yeast species. We suggest modernizing the QPS concept to become strain rather than species specific and present arguments to qualify this strain lineage as QPS or QPS-like. KEY POINTS: • The biosynthetic genes for 3-nitropropionic acid have been recently characterized. • An industrial strain lineage for food protein production lacks all known mycotoxin genes. • Proteins produced in this mycotoxin-free lineage should entail lower regulatory requirements.

Topics: Aspergillus oryzae; Mycotoxins; Propionates; Recombinant Proteins; Nitro Compounds; Industrial Microbiology; Aflatoxins; Multigene Family; Gene Deletion; Animals; Indoles

PubMed: 40220078
DOI: 10.1007/s00253-025-13482-6

Review

Authors: Winnie-Pui-Pui Liew, Mohd-Redzwan Sabran

The co-occurrence and accumulation of mycotoxin in food and feed constitutes a major issue to food safety, food security, and public health. Accurate and sensitive mycotoxins analysis can avoid toxin contamination as well as reduce food wastage caused by false positive results. This mini review focuses on the recent advance in detection methods for multiple mycotoxins, which mainly depends on immunoassay technologies. Advance immunoassay technologies integrated in mycotoxin analysis enable simultaneous detection of multiple mycotoxins and enhance the outcomes' quality. It highlights toxicogenomic as novel approach for hazard assessment by utilizing computational methods to map molecular events and biological processes. Indeed, toxicogenomic is a powerful tool to understand health effects from mycotoxin exposure as it offers insight on the mechanisms by which mycotoxins exposures cause diseases.

Topics: Mycotoxins; Toxicogenetics; Food Contamination; Immunoassay; Animal Feed

PubMed: 36753365
DOI: 10.38212/2224-6614.3430

Meta-Analysis Review

Authors: Theodora Ekwomadu, Mulunda Mwanza, Alfred Musekiwa...

Humans continue to be constantly exposed to mycotoxins, mainly through oral exposure (dietary), inhalation, or dermal contact. Recently, it has been of increasing interest to investigate mycotoxin-linked carcinogenicity. This systematic review was conducted to synthesize evidence of the association between mycotoxin-linked mutations and the risk of cancer, to provide an overview of the data linking exposure to different mycotoxins with human cancer risk, and to provide an update on current research on the risk of cancer associated with human exposure to mycotoxins. PRISMA guidelines were used when conducting the systematic review. PubMed, MEDLINE, and CINAHL electronic databases were comprehensively searched to extract the relevant studies published from inception to May 2022. A total of sixteen relevant studies (4907 participants) were identified and included in this review. Of these, twelve studies were from Asia, while four of the studies were conducted in Africa. The overall meta-analysis result found no significant association, although some of the studies confirmed an association between mycotoxin-linked mutations and primary liver cancer risk. Mainly, the experimental studies have shown associations between mycotoxin-linked mutations and cancer risk, and there is a need for researchers to confirm these links in epidemiological studies in order to guide public health policies and interventions.

Topics: Africa; Diet; Food Contamination; Global Health; Humans; Mutation; Mycotoxins; Neoplasms

PubMed: 35805411
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19137754

Review

Authors: Radmilo Čolović, Nikola Puvača, Federica Cheli...

Mycotoxins are known worldwide as fungus-produced toxins that adulterate a wide heterogeneity of raw feed ingredients and final products. Consumption of mycotoxins-contaminated feed causes a plethora of harmful responses from acute toxicity to many persistent health disorders with lethal outcomes; such as mycotoxicosis when ingested by animals. Therefore, the main task for feed producers is to minimize the concentration of mycotoxin by applying different strategies aimed at minimizing the risk of mycotoxin effects on animals and human health. Once mycotoxins enter the production chain it is hard to eliminate or inactivate them. This paper examines the most recent findings on different processes and strategies for the reduction of toxicity of mycotoxins in animals. The review gives detailed information about the decontamination approaches to mitigate mycotoxin contamination of feedstuffs and compound feed, which could be implemented in practice.

Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Decontamination; Food Contamination; Mycotoxins

PubMed: 31731462
DOI: 10.3390/toxins11110617

Review

Authors: Xhensila Shkembi, Marketa Svobodova, Vasso Skouridou...

Mycotoxins are toxic compounds produced by fungi, which represent a risk to the food and feed supply chain, having an impact on health and economies. A high percentage of feed samples have been reported to be contaminated with more than one type of mycotoxin. Systematic, cost-effective and simple tools for testing are critical to achieve a rapid and accurate screening of food and feed quality. In this review, we describe the various aptamers that have been selected against mycotoxins and their incorporation into optical and electrochemical aptasensors, outlining the strategies exploited, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. The review also discusses the different materials used and the immobilization methods employed, with the aim of achieving the highest sensitivity and selectivity.

Topics: Food Contamination; Mycotoxins

PubMed: 33716125
DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2021.114156

Review

Authors: Beatrice De Felice, Leon J Spicer, Francesca Caloni...

Although over the last 10 years several studies have focused on the emerging mycotoxins known as enniatins (ENNs), there is still a lack of knowledge regarding their toxicological effects and the development of a correct risk assessment. This is especially true for enniatin B1 (ENN B1), considered the younger sister of the widely studied enniatin B (ENN B). ENN B1 has been found in several food commodities and, as with other mycotoxins, presents antibacterial and antifungal properties. On the other hand, ENN B1 has shown cytotoxic activity, impairment of the cell cycle, the induction of oxidative stress, and changes in mitochondrial membrane permeabilization, as well as negative genotoxic and estrogenic effects. Overall, considering the paucity of information available regarding ENN B1, further studies are necessary to perform a risk assessment. This review summarizes information on the biological characteristics and toxicological effects of ENN B1 as well as the future challenges that this mycotoxin could present.

Topics: Mycotoxins; Depsipeptides; Oxidative Stress; Cell Cycle

PubMed: 37368684
DOI: 10.3390/toxins15060383

Review

Authors: Veronica Zingales, Mercedes Taroncher, Piera Anna Martino...

Earth's climate is undergoing adverse global changes as an unequivocal result of anthropogenic activity. The occurring environmental changes are slowly shaping the balance between plant growth and related fungal diseases. Climate (temperature, available water, and light quality/quantity; as well as extreme drought, desertification, and fluctuations of humid/dry cycles) represents the most important agroecosystem factor influencing the life cycle stages of fungi and their ability to colonize crops, survive, and produce toxins. The ability of mycotoxigenic fungi to respond to Climate Change (CC) may induce a shift in their geographical distribution and in the pattern of mycotoxin occurrence. The present review examines the available evidence on the impact of CC factors on growth and mycotoxin production by the key mycotoxigenic fungi belonging to the genera , , and , which include several species producing mycotoxins of the greatest concern worldwide: aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxins, and fumonisins (FUMs).

Topics: Aflatoxins; Climate Change; Food Contamination; Fumonisins; Fungi; Mycotoxins

PubMed: 35878185
DOI: 10.3390/toxins14070445

Authors: Theodora Ijeoma Ekwomadu, Toluwase Adeseye Dada, Nancy Nleya...

The presence of mycotoxins in cereal grain is a very important food safety issue with the occurrence of masked mycotoxins extensively investigated in recent years. This study investigated the variation of different metabolites (including the related regulated, masked, and emerging mycotoxin) in maize from various agriculture regions of South Africa. The relationship between the maize producing regions, the maize type, as well as the mycotoxins was established. A total of 123 maize samples was analyzed by a LC-MS/MS multi-mycotoxin method. The results revealed that all maize types exhibited a mixture of free, masked, and emerging mycotoxins contamination across the regions with an average of 5 and up to 24 out of 42 investigated mycotoxins, including 1 to 3 masked forms at the same time. Data obtained show that fumonisin B B B B, and A were the most prevalent mycotoxins and had maximum contamination levels of 8908, 3383, 990, 1014, and 51.5 µg/kg, respectively. Deoxynivalenol occurred in 50% of the samples with a mean concentration of 152 µg/kg (max 1380 µg/kg). Thirty-three percent of the samples were contaminated with zearalenone at a mean concentration of 13.6 µg/kg (max 146 µg/kg). Of the masked mycotoxins, DON-3-glucoside occurred at a high incidence level of 53%. Among emerging toxins, moniliformin, fusarinolic acid, and beauvericin showed high occurrences at 98%, 98%, and 83%, and had maximum contamination levels of 1130, 3422, and 142 µg/kg, respectively. Significant differences in the contamination pattern were observed between the agricultural regions and maize types.

Topics: Agriculture; Environmental Monitoring; Fusarium; Mycotoxins; South Africa; Zea mays

PubMed: 32121210
DOI: 10.3390/toxins12030149