Biomonitoring of Dietary Mycotoxin Exposure and Associated Impact on the Gut Microbiome in Nigerian Infants

Abstract

Mycotoxins are toxic chemicals that adversely affect human health. Here, we assessed the influence of mycotoxin exposure on the longitudinal development of early life intestinal microbiota of Nigerian neonates and infants (NIs). Human biomonitoring assays based on liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry were applied to quantify mycotoxins in breast milk (n = 68) consumed by the NIs, their stool (n = 82), and urine samples (n = 15), which were collected longitudinally from month 1−18 postdelivery. Microbial community composition was characterized by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of stool samples and was correlated to mycotoxin exposure patterns. Fumonisin B 1 (FB 1 ), FB 2 , and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) were frequently quantified in stool samples between months 6 and 18. Aflatoxin M 1 (AFM 1 ), AME, and citrinin were quantified in breast milk samples at low concentrations. AFM 1 , FB 1 , and ochratoxin A were quantified in urine samples at relatively high concentrations. Klebsiella and Escherichia/Shigella were dominant in very early life stool samples (month 1), whereas Bifidobacterium was dominant between months 3 and 6. The total mycotoxin levels in stool were significantly associated with NIs' gut microbiome composition (PERMANOVA, p < 0.05). However, no significant correlation was observed between specific microbiota and the detection of certain mycotoxins. Albeit a small cohort, this study demonstrates that mycotoxins may influence early life gut microbiome composition.

Insights into the early-life chemical exposome of Nigerian infants and potential correlations with the developing gut microbiome

“…Fumonisin B 1 has been previously associated with neural tube defects and the etiology of esophageal cancer in humans (Marasas et al 2004, Missmer et al 2006). Moreover, this mycotoxin was previously found in stool of the same cohort using a targeted LC-MS/MS-based assay (Krausová et al 2022, Ayeni et al 2024), and the longitudinal pattern of occurrence was comparable (Ayeni et al 2024). This highlights that targeted and non-targeted LC-MS/MS approaches can be complementary (Flasch et al 2023).…”

“…The longitudinal pilot study involved human breast milk and matched infant stool samples from Ilishan-Remo, Ogun state, Nigeria. Details of study location and sample collection were previously described by Ayeni et al (2024). The same set of samples was used before to investigate specific exposure classes: polyphenols in the breast milk samples (Berger et al 2024), and mycotoxins in the stool (Krausová et al 2022) and breast milk (Ayeni et al 2024).…”

“…Details of study location and sample collection were previously described by Ayeni et al (2024). The same set of samples was used before to investigate specific exposure classes: polyphenols in the breast milk samples (Berger et al 2024), and mycotoxins in the stool (Krausová et al 2022) and breast milk (Ayeni et al 2024). Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Committee of Babcock University (BUHREC 421/21R, BUHREC 466/23).…”

“…Gut microbiome data of the infants' stool samples obtained at months 1, 6 and 12 post-delivery were retrieved from Ayeni et al (2024). The detailed procedure of DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing applied to the infants' stool was previously published (Pjevac et al 2021).…”