Mycotoxin Biomarkers of Exposure

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Mycotoxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2020) | Viewed by 12151

Special Issue Editor

Department of Bioanalysis, Centre of Excellence in Mycotoxicology and Public Health, MYTOX-SOUTH, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Interests: Mycotoxins, Human health, Analytical Chemistry, Developing countries, Human intervention
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Dietary exposure to mycotoxins remains a daily fact for humans worldwide. In the last decade, a focus has been placed on assessments of external dietary exposure identifying globally high incidences of mycotoxins in our diets. However, currently, the use of mycotoxin biomarkers to determine internal dietary exposure is becoming more commonplace.

Biomarker-driven research has been proposed as a successful method to assess individuals’ exposure to mycotoxins through an estimation of their metabolites in biological fluids (i.e. biomarkers of exposure). Next to the analytical challenges of determining and identifying mycotoxin biomarkers of exposure, it is a challenge to identify, validate and prove the relevance of these biomarkers. There is also need to characterize a biomarker’s effectiveness or utility as a surrogate endpoint, as well as its ability to provide clinically relevant information on research questions. Well-characterized biomarkers that have been shown to predict clinical outcomes across a variety of populations, however, remain a rarity in the mycotoxin research field.

This Special Issue of ToxinsMycotoxin Biomarkers’ aims to provide a comprehensive holistic look at mycotoxin biomarkers of exposure highlighting analytical methodologies to determine mycotoxin biomarkers (both rapid screening and LC-MS/HRMS-based approaches), survey analyses of mycotoxin biomarkers, in vitro analyses that unravel possible new mycotoxin biomarkers, in vivo analyses validating biomarkers of exposure, toxicokinetic studies with a focus on the biomarkers of exposure profiles, and assessment studies linking mycotoxin biomarkers to clinical outcomes.

Dr. Marthe De Boevre
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biomarkers of exposure
  • survey
  • analytical method
  • rapid test
  • toxicokinetics
  • in vitro
  • in vivo
  • clinical outcomes

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 285 KiB  
Communication
Human Mycotoxin Biomonitoring: Conclusive Remarks on Direct or Indirect Assessment of Urinary Deoxynivalenol
by Arnau Vidal, Nabila Bouzaghnane, Sarah De Saeger and Marthe De Boevre
Toxins 2020, 12(2), 139; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/toxins12020139 - 24 Feb 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2950
Abstract
Deoxynivalenol is one of the most ubiquitous mycotoxins in the Western diet through its presence in cereals and cereal products. A vast amount of studies indicate the worrying level of exposure to this toxin, while even high percentages of the population exceed the [...] Read more.
Deoxynivalenol is one of the most ubiquitous mycotoxins in the Western diet through its presence in cereals and cereal products. A vast amount of studies indicate the worrying level of exposure to this toxin, while even high percentages of the population exceed the tolerable daily intake. To evaluate and assess dietary exposure, analysis of urinary levels of deoxynivalenol and its glucuronides has been proposed as a reliable methodology. An indirect preliminary method was used based on the cleavage of deoxynivalenol glucuronides through the use of enzymes (β-glucuronidase) and subsequent determination of "total deoxynivalenol" (sum of free and released mycotoxins by hydrolysis). Next, a direct procedure for quantification of deoxynivalenol-3-glucuronide and deoxynivalenol-15-glucuronide was developed. As deoxynivalenol glucuronides reference standards are not commercially available, the indirect method is widely applied. However, to not underestimate the total deoxynivalenol exposure in urine, the direct and indirect methodologies need to be compared. Urinary samples (n = 96) with a confirmed presence of deoxynivalenol and/or deoxynivalenol glucuronides were analysed using both approaches. The indirect method clarified that not all deoxynivalenol glucuronides were transformed to free deoxynivalenol during enzymatic treatment, causing an underestimation of total deoxynivalenol. This short communication concludes on the application of direct or indirect assessment of urinary deoxynivalenol. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mycotoxin Biomarkers of Exposure)
22 pages, 811 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Dried Blood Spots for Multi-Mycotoxin Biomarker Analysis in Pigs and Broiler Chickens
by Marianne Lauwers, Siska Croubels, Siegrid De Baere, Milena Sevastiyanova, Eva Maria Romera Sierra, Ben Letor, Christos Gougoulias and Mathias Devreese
Toxins 2019, 11(9), 541; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/toxins11090541 - 18 Sep 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4853
Abstract
Dried blood spots (DBSs), a micro-sampling technique whereby a drop of blood is collected on filter paper has multiple advantages over conventional blood sampling regarding the sampling itself, as well as transportation and storage. This is the first paper describing the development and [...] Read more.
Dried blood spots (DBSs), a micro-sampling technique whereby a drop of blood is collected on filter paper has multiple advantages over conventional blood sampling regarding the sampling itself, as well as transportation and storage. This is the first paper describing the development and validation of a method for the determination of 23 mycotoxins and phase I metabolites in DBSs from pigs and broiler chickens using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The targeted mycotoxins belong to groups for which the occurrence in feed is regulated by the European Union, namely, aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and several Fusarium mycotoxins, and to two groups of unregulated mycotoxins, namely Alternaria mycotoxins and Fusarium mycotoxins (enniatins and beauvericin). The impact of blood haematocrit, DBS sampling volume and size of the analysed DBS disk on the validation results was assessed. No effects of variation in size of the analysed disk, haematocrit and spotted blood volume were observed for most mycotoxins, except for the aflatoxins and β-zearalanol (BZAL) at the lowest haematocrit (26%) level and for the enniatins (ENNs) at the lowest volume (40 µL). The developed method was transferred to an LC-high resolution mass spectrometry instrument to determine phase II metabolites. Then, the DBS technique was applied in a proof-of-concept toxicokinetic study including a comparison with LC-MS/MS data from plasma obtained with conventional venous blood sampling. A strong correlation (r > 0.947) was observed between plasma and DBS concentrations. Finally, DBSs were also applied in a pilot exposure assessment study to test their applicability under field conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mycotoxin Biomarkers of Exposure)
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16 pages, 1711 KiB  
Article
Biomonitoring of Deoxynivalenol and Deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside in Human Volunteers: Renal Excretion Profiles
by Marcel Mengelers, Marco Zeilmaker, Arnau Vidal, Marthe De Boevre, Sarah De Saeger and Rudolf Hoogenveen
Toxins 2019, 11(8), 466; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/toxins11080466 - 08 Aug 2019
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 3785
Abstract
Biomarkers for the determination of the dietary exposure to deoxynivalenol (DON) have been proposed in the past but so far no quantification of their use in humans has been carried out. Following a human intervention study with two mycotoxins, namely DON and deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside [...] Read more.
Biomarkers for the determination of the dietary exposure to deoxynivalenol (DON) have been proposed in the past but so far no quantification of their use in humans has been carried out. Following a human intervention study with two mycotoxins, namely DON and deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (DON3G), the renal excretion of these compounds, including their phase II metabolites, was analysed. The purpose was to develop biokinetic models that can be used to determine: (1) the preferred (set of) urinary biomarker(s), (2) the preferred urinary collection period, and (3) a method to estimate the dietary exposure to these mycotoxins. Twenty adult volunteers were restricted in consuming cereals and cereal-based foods for 4 days. At day 3, a single dose of 1 µg/kg body weight of DON or DON3G was orally administered to 16 volunteers; 4 volunteers served as control. All individual urine discharges were collected during 24 h after administration. The metabolism and renal excretion could be described by a biokinetic model using three physiological compartments (gastrointestinal tract, liver, and kidneys). Kinetic analysis revealed a complete recovery of the renal excretion of total DON (mainly DON and its glucuronides) within 24 h after administration of DON or DON3G. The so-called ‘reverse dosimetry’ factor was used to determine the preferred (set of) biomarker(s) and to estimate the dietary intake of the parent compounds in the future. The fact that DON3G was absorbed and mainly excreted as DON and its glucuronides confirms that DON3G (as well as other modified forms) should be taken into account in the exposure and risk assessment of this group of mycotoxins. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mycotoxin Biomarkers of Exposure)
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