Aflatoxin M1 in the urine of non-carriers and chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus in Maringa, Brazil

Abstract

Exposure to aflatoxins (AFs) in the diet may favour the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the acute exacerbation of hepatitis in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers. Measurement of biomarkers such as aflatoxin M 1 (AFM 1 ), a metabolite of aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ), in urine allows for the assessment of populations exposed to aflatoxins. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of aflatoxin M 1 in the urine of HBV carrier and non-carrier patients. One group included 43 randomly selected HBV carriers treated at two hospitals in the city of Maringa, Brazil, from March to June 2008. Control group consisted of 29 healthy adult volunteers with anti-HBs positive and HBsAg negative test results. Detection of AFM 1 was performed by fluorescence using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and post-column derivation with the Kobra Cell ® . Of the 72 samples analysed, 05/29 (17.2%) AFM 1 positive samples were from HBV non-carriers, and 16/43 (37.2%) of samples were from chronic HBV carriers. This study showed AFM 1 in the urine of the two surveyed population. However, there is evidence that the chronic HBV carriers have a higher risk of developing HCC due to additive interaction between AFs and HBV.Uniterms: Aflatoxins. Biomarkers. Hepatitis B. Hepatocellular carcinoma. Urina/análise toxicológica. Epidemiology.A exposição às aflatoxinas (AFs) na dieta é um fator de risco para o desenvolvimento do carcinoma hepatocelular (CHC) e a exacerbação da hepatite aguda em indivíduos portadores do vírus da hepatite B (VHB). O uso de biomarcadores, como a aflatoxina M 1 (AFM 1 ) na urina, produto de biotransformação da aflatoxina B 1 (AFB 1 ), permite avaliar se a população está exposta às AFs. O objetivo do presente estudo foi investigar ocorrência de AFM 1 na urina de portadores e não portadores crônicos do VHB. Foi selecionado um grupo, de forma aleatória, representado por 43 portadores do VHB atendidos em dois hospitais da cidade de Maringá, Brasil, no período de Março a Junho/2008. O grupo controle foi composto por 29 voluntários adultos saudáveis anti-HBs positivo e HBsAg negativo. A determinação de AFM 1 foi realizada por meio de detecção por fluorescência em sistema de cromatografia a líquido de alta eficiência com derivação pós-coluna utilizando Kobra Cell ® . Das 72 amostras analisadas, 05/29 (17,2%) foram positivas para AFM 1 em indivíduos não portadores do VHB, e 16/43 (37,2%) de pacientes portadores do VHB. Este estudo demonstrou a ocorrência de AFM 1 na urina dos dois grupos estudados. Entretanto, há evidências de que os portadores do VHB possuam alto risco no desenvolvimento do CHC devido ao efeito aditivo pela interação entre aflatoxinas e VHB.Unitermos: Aflatoxinas. Biomarcadores. Hepatite B. Carcinoma hepatocelular. Análise toxicológica. Epidemiologia. 448 INTRODUCTIONAflatoxins (AFs) are a group of mycotoxins of major importance in foods such as peanuts and corn. The most important toxigenic fungi producing aflatoxins are Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus and A. nomius. The ...

Assessment of aflatoxin exposure using serum and urinary biomarkers in São Paulo, Brazil: A pilot study

“…The comparison between the results of the present study and those reported by other authors is difficult, because mostly of them expressed the urinary AFM 1 levels without correcting the value for the excreted creatinine. However, our results were lower than those reported previously for urinary AFM 1 in Brazil by Romero et al (2010) and Giolo et al (2012), who found mean values of 5.96 ± 6.39 pg/mL and 2.74 ± 1.98 pg/mL, respectively. In the present study, the maximum AFM 1 level in urine (12.68 pg/mg creatinine, or 6.85 pg/mL urine) was found in sampling 2 (September 2011), although the maximum concentrations in the other sampling times ranged from 0.86 to 2.79 pg/mg creatinine (1.60 to 5.24 pg/mL urine, respectively).…”

Determination of Urinary Biomarkers for Assessment of Short-Term Human Exposure to Aflatoxins in São Paulo, Brazil

“…Giolo et al . [ 13 ] found the AFM 1 mean concentration for positive samples of 2.74 ± 1.98 pg·mL −1 ( N = 72; range for positive samples: 0.67–7.87 pg·mL −1 ). These previous works reported data from single sampling times, while in the present study samplings were carried out four times every three months during a 10-month period.…”

“…In another recent study, Giolo et al . [ 13 ] detected AFM 1 in 37.2% of 43 urine samples from chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus (HBV), and 17.2% of 29 samples from a HBV non-carriers control group. Determination of residual aflatoxins in urine in these previous works has been carried out using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection, and at a single sampling time.…”

Determination of Aflatoxin M1 and Heavy Metals in Infant Formula Milk Brands Available in Pakistani Markets

“…Infants health may also be adversely affected due to the prolonged feeding on aflatoxin M 1 contaminated food i.e., milk, infant formulas and related products ( Ismail et al , 2016 ; Kunter et al , 2016 ). The elevated levels of aflatoxin M 1 may also result in hepatocellular carcinoma, immunosuppression as well as teratogenic and mutagenic effects including impairment of kidney and liver ( Afum et al , 2016 ; Clarke et al , 2015 ; Giolo et al , 2012 ; Zheng et al , 2013 ).…”