Determination of Deoxynivalenol in the Urine of Pregnant Women in the UK

Abstract

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most commonly occurring trichothecenes, produced mainly by Fusarium graminearum. Little is known about the effect of DON exposure or the levels of DON exposure that occur during pregnancy. The project aimed to provide data on levels of total DON and de-epoxi Deoxynivalenol (DOM-1) in pregnant human urine samples analysed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Morning urine samples were collected over two consecutive days from 42 volunteers and associated food consumption was recorded for the 24 h prior to the sample. Spearman’s rho non-parametric test for correlation was used to assess the data. Levels of DON did not differ significantly between day 1 (mean 29.7 ng/mL urine or 40.1 ng DON/mg creatinine) and day 2 (mean 28.7 ng/mL urine or 38.8 ng DON/mg creatinine ng/mL/day) urine samples. The only significant positive correlation was found between total ng DON/mg creatinine and parity (rho = 0.307, n = 42, p < 0.005 two-tailed) and total ng DON/mg creatinine with baked goods on day 1 (rho = 0.532, n = 42, p < 0.0005 two-tailed). This study provides data on the DON levels in pregnancy in this suburban population and reassurance that those levels are within acceptable limits.

Deoxynivalenol Biomarkers in the Urine of UK Vegetarians

“…In comparison to pregnant females from Hull, UK [ 21 ] who did not consume any organic foods, three vegetarian individuals in this cohort were regularly consuming organic muesli and multigrain bread. Two of the adults consumed organic products, namely wheat bran rolled flakes daily and organic pasta once a week.…”

Assessment of Urinary Deoxynivalenol Biomarkers in UK Children and Adolescents

“…Each meal section included examples of food items which belonged to seven food categories, all known to contribute to the consumption of DON. These food categories were in accordance with the validated FFQ used to assess the main dietary sources of DON [ 18 , 19 , 20 ] and included breakfast cereals and snacks, bread, products alternative to bread, pasta, biscuits and bakery products, cereals and similar, and beer. For consistency and ease of recording, the example food items within each category were tabulated with tick boxes as to whether the portion consumed was small, medium, or large.…”

“…An increasing number of studies which assessed urinary DON levels and its metabolites in adult populations showed exposure levels close to, or even higher than, the PMTDI [ 12 , 15 , 18 ]. There is also interest in investigating DON exposure in potentially susceptible population groups due to their physiological status (e.g., pregnancy) [ 19 ]; dietary habits (e.g., vegetarians) [ 18 ]; and age (i.e., children and adolescents) [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Children are considered to be at risk for greater relative DON exposure than adults due to their higher food and fluid intake per kg of body weight compared to adults, child/adult metabolic differences, limited ability for detoxification, and on-going bodily system development including the immune and central nervous system [ 23 ].…”

Mycotoxin exposure and adverse reproductive health outcomes in Africa: a review

“…In a more recent study, we showed that DON was strongly cytotoxic to MA-10 cells after 48 h of exposure with concentrations as low as 29.63 ng/ml (0.1 µM) and 296.32 ng/ml (1 µM) showing significant cytotoxicity (Eze et al, 2018). Urinary concentrations of 436 ng/ml (1.471 µM) and 1,238 ng/ml (4.178 µM) have been reported for DON and its conjugates in pregnant women (Sarkanj et al, 2013;Wells et al, 2016) and therefore, the concentrations causing cytotoxic effects on MA-10 cells have clinical relevance.…”