Determinants of aflatoxin levels in Ghanaians: Sociodemographic factors, knowledge of aflatoxin and food handling and consumption practices

Jolly, Pauline E.; Jiang, Yi; Ellis, William Otoo; Awuah, R. T.; Nnedu, Obinna N.; Phillips, Timothy D.; Wang, Jiasheng; Afriyie-Gyawu, Evans; Tang, Lili; Person, Sharina D.; Williams, Jonathan; Jolly, Curtis M.

doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2006.02.002

Cited by 117 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Our finding that all the participants studied had AF-ALB indicates how widespread aflatoxins are in the population. This finding is similar to that of a study conducted by Jolly and others 22 who found aflatoxins in the blood of all nonpregnant subjects evaluated in the Ejura Sekyedumase district of Ghana. These results indicate the constancy with which populations from different regions are exposed to aflatoxins in their food.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…21 When these aflatoxins are ingested, AFB 1 binds to albumin to form AFB 1 -lysine adducts (AL-ALB), which persist for up to 2-3 months or longer in the blood and can be detected. 22 Aflatoxins have been implicated in the pathogenesis of conditions such as primary liver cell carcinoma, malnutrition, immunosuppresion, and growth retardation. 17 Aflatoxins have been associated with hemolytic anemia in mammals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Association between Anemia and Aflatoxin B1 Biomarker Levels among Pregnant Women in Kumasi, Ghana

Shuaib¹,

Jolly²,

Ehiri³

et al. 2010

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Aflatoxins are fungal metabolites that contaminate staple food crops in many developing countries. Up to 40% of women attending a prenatal clinic in Africa may be anemic. In a cross-sectional study of 755 pregnant women, Aflatoxin B1-lysine adducts (AF-ALB) levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Participants were divided into quartiles “low,” “moderate,” “high,” and “very high.” Anemia was defined as hemoglobin levels < 11 g/dL. Logistic regression was used to examine the association of anemia with AF-ALB. The mean AF-ALB level was 10.9 pg/mg (range = 0.44–268.73 pg/mg); 30.3% of participants were anemic. The odds of being anemic increased 21% (odds ratio [OR], 1.21, P = 0.01) with each quartile of AF-ALB reaching an 85% increased odds in the “very high” compared with the “low” category (OR, 1.85; confidence interval [CI], 1.16–2.95). This association was stronger among women with malaria and findings were robust when women with evidence of iron deficiency anemia were excluded. This study found a strong, consistent association between anemia in pregnancy and aflatoxins.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between Anemia and Aflatoxin B1 Biomarker Levels among Pregnant Women in Kumasi, Ghana

Shuaib¹,

Jolly²,

Ehiri³

et al. 2010

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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“…In recent years, hundreds of aflatoxicosis cases in Africa have been linked to consuming aflatoxin-laden maize (Lewis et al, 2005). Aflatoxin exposure is also associated with immunotoxicity in humans (Jolly et al, 2006;Turner et al, 2003;Williams et al, 2004), and with stunted growth in children caused by intestinal damage (Gong et al, 2008). In many animal species, aflatoxin B 1 has induced liver tumours and has been associated with immunotoxicity, reduced weight gain and productivity, and lower egg production and eggshell quality in poultry (Bondy and Pestka, 2000).…”

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confidence: 99%

Climate change impacts on mycotoxin risks in US maize

Bhatnagar

Bui-Klimke

et al. 2011

WMJ

145

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To ensure future food security, it is crucial to understand how potential climate change scenarios will affect agriculture. One key area of interest is how climatic factors, both in the near- and the long-term future, could affect fungal infection of crops and mycotoxin production by these fungi. The objective of this paper is to review the potential impact of climate change on three important mycotoxins that contaminate maize in the United States, and to highlight key research questions and approaches for understanding this impact. Recent climate change analyses that pertain to agriculture and in particular to mycotoxigenic fungi are discussed, with respect to the climatic factors – temperature and relative humidity – at which they thrive and cause severe damage. Additionally, we discuss how climate change will likely alter the life cycles and geographic distribution of insects that are known to facilitate fungal infection of crops.

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“…There is evidence from research that many households in the study area in rural Uganda are increasingly growing cereals, legumes and tubers such as maize, beans, cassava, sweet potatoes and groundnuts [25]. Examples from other settings have shown that crops such as maize and groundnuts are prone to severe infestations by aflatoxin-producing fungi, leading to contamination and compromising food quality [6,8,20,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex agricultural livelihoods and aflatoxin exposure in rural Uganda

Agol¹

2017

AJFAND

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Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus species of fungi. They are highly toxic and have been designated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as human carcinogens (Class 1: definitely carcinogenic to humans). High levels of exposure can cause acute hepatic necrosis and death while chronic exposure can cause carcinoma of the liver and possibly also growth impairment in children and compromised immunity. Contamination of crops most often occurs during harvest and storage, when damp, warm conditions allow the fungi to proliferate. Possible barriers to effective local interventions to reduce exposure were explored, by examining agricultural livelihoods and patterns of household food consumption within a population cohort in rural south west Uganda. Previous work in this cohort and elsewhere in Uganda showed that aflatoxin exposure was ubiquitous and that there are multiple sources of exposure. Data on agricultural practices were collected through a survey of 200 households; 22 of those were randomly selected for in-depth interviews. While crops such as maize, cassava, beans and groundnuts -all potential sources of aflatoxin -are grown, stored and consumed locally, the sale of home-grown foods, unfavourable climate, pests and diseases and limited labour, all facilitate food scarcities and subsequent insecurities leading to purchase of poorly stored foods which may also contain aflatoxins. Processed foods are easily accessible by many households, from the numerous trading centres established within villages. This paper gives background information on heterogeneity of household diets and seasonal trends in food consumption in rural Uganda and by so doing, identifies potential risk factors for aflatoxin contamination in the study area. Risks of aflatoxin contamination are multifaceted and this complexity makes it challenging to design and implement risk control measures and advocacy strategies. The argument of the paper is that the complexity of agricultural livelihoods and patterns of household food consumption in rural Uganda may mitigate the impact of simple, local interventions to reduce aflatoxin exposure. Therefore, intervention approaches need to take into account this complexity in order to minimize risk factors, especially amongst poor populations in rural areas.

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Determinants of aflatoxin levels in Ghanaians: Sociodemographic factors, knowledge of aflatoxin and food handling and consumption practices

Cited by 117 publications

References 29 publications

Association between Anemia and Aflatoxin B1 Biomarker Levels among Pregnant Women in Kumasi, Ghana

Association between Anemia and Aflatoxin B1 Biomarker Levels among Pregnant Women in Kumasi, Ghana

Climate change impacts on mycotoxin risks in US maize

Complex agricultural livelihoods and aflatoxin exposure in rural Uganda

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