Gender and geographical variability in the exposure pattern and metabolism of deoxynivalenol in humans: a review

Abstract

Deoxynivalenol (DON, also known as vomitoxin) is a common mycotoxin found worldwide, especially in contaminated food. DON is toxic to a variety of cells and tissues in humans. Three kinds of conjugated products (DON-3-glucuronide, DON-15-glucuronide and DON-7-glucuronide) can be found as major metabolites in human urine. Females and males show different patterns of exposure levels, and human exposure to DON also shows some geographical differences because of different DON levels in cereal-based foods, food intake habits and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase expression. Specifically, the C12, 13-deepoxy metabolite was found predominantly in French adults but was rarely detected in UK adults. However, a cohort of Spanish individuals demonstrated even lower DON levels than the levels in the UK populations, whereas a very high DON exposure level was detected in South Africa and Linxian, China. Recent publications have further indicated that DON could be detected in the urine of pregnant women from different countries, which suggests that there is a potential risk to both mothers and foetuses. Additionally, phytochemicals have been shown to be less toxic to cells and laboratory animals in research studies and may also be used as food additives for reducing the toxic effects of DON. In this review, we provide global information on DON metabolism, human exposure and gender differences in humans. Also, control strategies for this mycotoxin are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Prediction of deoxynivalenol toxicokinetics in humans by in vitro-to-in vivo extrapolation and allometric scaling of in vivo animal data

“…Using recombinant human UGTs, it was demonstrated that DON-15-GlcA is predominantly produced by UGT2B4 and DON-3-GlcA by UGT2B7, one of the most important hepatic UGTs . Both enzymes occur in different variants in Caucasian, Hispanic, African, and Asian populations (Guillemette 2003), which might be one reason for the observed geographical variability in DON metabolism (Chen et al 2016). However, considering this diversity, the data on animal and human DON glucuronides from different reports are astonishingly congruent, and were also confirmed in this study by our in vitro and in vivo experiments.…”

“…The hepatic glucuronidation pattern of DON varies between species, which has been shown consistently in in vivo Schwartz-Zimmermann et al 2017) and in vitro Uhlig et al 2016) studies. In addition, there are differences related to sex, age, health status, diet, or environment Chen et al 2016). The DON-metabolising UGTs belong to an enzyme superfamily that is found ubiquitously in living organisms and has a widely ranging spectrum of endogenous and exogenous substrates.…”

Mycotoxins in blood and urine of Swedish adolescents—possible associations to food intake and other background characteristics

“…Human biomonitoring in combination with dietary surveys can be a useful tool to confirm exposure of mycotoxins, to correlate exposure to certain food intake and to perform trend analyses. In addition, it can be an important tool to reveal influence of other factors such as differences in exposure due to socioeconomic or regional factors (Ali et al 2016;Breitholtz et al 1991;Chen et al 2017;Mitropoulou et al 2018;Pacin et al 2008). However, despite those benefits, human biomonitoring is more useful in human health and dietary studies, than its use in exact exposure assessment of daily intake.…”

Deoxynivalenol as potential modulator of human steroidogenesis

“…They can infect small grain cereals such as wheat, oat, barley and maize (Nganje, Kaitibie, Wilson, Leistritz, & Bangsund, ), which results in harmful contamination and decreased yields (Ferrigo, Raiola, & Causin, ). Products, particularly those that are rich in carbohydrates, are attractive for the fungi development (Chen et al, ). Some species of Fusarium can exist together and usually more than one species is detected in probes.…”

“…What is more, some of the aspects to consider are dietary differences, food processing and socioeconomic conditions of living (Marin, Ramos, Cano-Sancho, & Sanchis, 2013). For example, the differences in DON exposure are based on food intake in different geographical areas (Chen et al, 2017).…”