DEOXYNIVALENOL: RATIONALE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF A URINARY BIOMARKER
Résumé
Mycotoxins are common dietary contaminants in most regions of the world. The frequency of exposure to the different families of mycotoxins is often dependent upon geographic location, national wealth and related agricultural and regulatory infrastructure, combined with how diverse a diet is available, and the degree of food sufficiency. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a Fusarium mycotoxin that frequently contaminates wheat, corn and barley in temperate regions of the world. A number of acute poisoning incidences have been linked to DON contaminated foods, and chronic exposure to lower levels of DON has been predicted in many regions. DON is a potent animal toxin, and exposure in humans may cause gastroenteritis, growth faltering and immune toxicity. The ability to conduct accurate exposure assessment at the individual level is required in order to fully understand the potential health consequences of human exposure. To date, such exposure biomarkers have been lacking for many important mycotoxins, including DON. To better assess exposure to DON at the individual level we have developed a robust urinary assay, incorporating immunoaffinity column (IAC) enrichment and LC-MS detection. Further refinement of this urinary assay, by inclusion of 13C-DON as an internal standard was then undertaken, and tested within the UK. Urinary DON was frequently observed in the urine and was significantly associated with cereal intake. A dietary intervention study demonstrated that avoiding wheat in the diet markedly reduced urinary levels of DON. This biomarker requires further validation, but our initial data suggest it may provide a useful tool in epidemiological investigations of the potential health consequences of this common environmental toxin.
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