Hepatitis B infection and aflatoxin biomarker levels in Gambian children

Abstract

SummaryOBJECTIVES To examine the relationship between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and biomarkers of aflatoxin exposure in West African children. METHODS Sera from 444 children aged 3-4 years who were selected to be representative of their communities were analysed for aflatoxin-albumin (AF-alb) adducts and markers of hepatitis B infection. RESULTS There was large interindividual variation in adduct levels (range: 2.2 to 459 pg AF-lysine eq./mg albumin). Adduct level was strongly correlated with season, with an approximately twofold higher mean level in the dry season than the wet. Geometric mean adduct levels in uninfected children, chronic carriers and acutely infected children were 31.6 (n ϭ 404), 44.9 (n ϭ 34) and 96.9 (n ϭ 6) pg/mg, respectively. The relationship of AF-alb level to ethnicity, month of sampling and HBV status was examined in a multiple regression model. Month of obtaining the blood sample (P ϭ 0.0001) and HBV status (P ϭ 0.0023) each made a highly significant contribution to the model; the high AF-alb levels were particularly associated with acute infection. Elevated serum transaminase levels were significantly (P Ͻ 0.002) associated with HBV status, with acutely infected children having the highest levels. Ethnicity was not significantly associated with AF-alb adduct levels in the model (P ϭ 0.09). CONCLUSIONS HBV infection and month of sampling both significantly influence AF-alb adduct levels. The effect of seasonality on adducts was also observed in a previous study of 347 Gambian adults, although there was no correlation between adduct level and HBV status in that population. This difference between children and adults may reflect a more severe effect of HBV infection, particularly acute infection, in childhood on hepatic AF metabolism.keywords HBV, aflatoxin, Gambia, children, biomarkers correspondence C. P. Wild, Molecular Epidemiology Unit, 3rd Floor, Algernon Firth Building, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT.

Multimycotoxin analysis in urines to assess infant exposure: A case study in Cameroon

“…Recent developments in molecular biology and instrumentation have provided new tools for use in environmental health care research and biological risk assessment. Biomarkers have the potential to be quantitative dosimeters of individual exposure and biologic effective dose, as well as early warning signals of biologic effect (Montesano et al, 1997;Ramjee et al, 1992;Riley and Pestka, 2005;Turner et al, 2000;WHO, 2001;Wild and Gong, 2010).…”

Drought, pod yield, pre-harvest Aspergillus infection and aflatoxin contamination on peanut in Niger

“…Aflatoxins are toxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic and immunosuppressive substances (Turner et al, 2000;Wild and Hall, 2000;Hall and Wild, 2003) produced when toxigenic strains of the fungi Aspergillus flavus Link. ex Fries and A. parasiticus Speare grow on peanuts and many other agricultural commodities.…”

Hepatitis B virus infection contributes to oxidative stress in a population exposed to aflatoxin B1 and high-risk for hepatocellular carcinoma

“…However, elevated levels of AAA in HBV(+) adolescents and children had been reported in our study conducted in Taiwan [51] and three other studies in Gambia [31,52,53] but not in adults [30,54]. Kew summarized a number of possible mechanisms for this synergistic effect, mainly focused on the devastated effect from HBV infection to the AFB1 exposed subjects (review in [8]).…”

“…Our data revealed that HBV status, defined by either a combination of HBV sero-markers and/or amino transferases, had a profound influence on host response to AFB1 in terms of AFB1 metabolism and oxidative damage to protein and DNA. In fact, HBsAg plus aminotransferase or the pattern of HBV sero-transversion has been used to differentiate active or past HBV infection, and to explore the association between active HBV infection and AAA levels [30,31]. One limitation of the present study is the IgM form of cAb, a marker of recent HBV infection [29], was not determined.…”