Peanuts, Aflatoxins and Undernutrition in Children in Sub-Saharan Africa

Mupunga, Innocent; Mngqawa, Pamella; Katerere, David R.

doi:10.3390/nu9121287

Cited by 59 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Nonetheless, deliberate ingestion of 5.5 mg chemically pure AFB1 over two days and 35 mg over two weeks in suicide attempts by an adult women from the USA was reported to cause no serious aflatoxin-related injuries at admission to the hospital for mild symptoms and even 14 years later [173]. Although difficult to explain, this could be due to her overall well-balanced nutritional status, age, and gender, since well-nourished adult females are less susceptible to aflatoxins than males of similar health and nutritional status [174][175].…”

Section: Aflatoxicosesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Aflatoxins: Production, Structure, Health Issues and Incidence in Southeast Asian and Sub-Saharan African Countries

Benkerroum¹

2020

Preprint

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This review aimed to update the main aspects of aflatoxin production, occurrence and incidence in selected countries, and associated aflatoxicosis outbreaks. Means to reduce aflatoxin incidence in crops were also presented with an emphasis on the environment-friendly technology using atoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus. Aflatoxins are unavoidable widespread natural contaminants of foods and feeds with serious impact on health, agricultural and livestock productivity, and food safety. They are secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus species distributed on three main sections of the genus (section Flavi, section Ochraceorosei, and section Nidulantes). Poor economic status of a country exacerbates the risk and the extent of crop contamination due to faulty storage conditions that are usually suitable for mold growth and mycotoxin production: temperature of 22 to 29°C and water activity of 0.90 to 0.99. This situation paralleled the prevalence of high liver cancer and the occasional acute aflatoxicosis episodes that have been associated with these regions. Risk assessment studies revealed that Southeast Asian and Sub-Saharan African countries remain at high risk and that, apart from the regulatory standards revision to be more restrictive, other actions to prevent or decontaminate crops are to be taken for adequate public health protection. Indeed, a review of publications on the incidence of aflatoxins in selected foods and feeds from countries whose crops are classically known for their highest contamination with aflatoxins, reveals that despite the intensive efforts made to reduce such an incidence, there has been no clear tendency, with the possible exception of South Africa, towards sustained improvements. Nonetheless, a global risk assessment of the new situation regarding crop contamination with aflatoxins by international organizations with the required expertise is suggested to appraise where we stand presently.

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Section: Aflatoxicosesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Aflatoxins: Production, Structure, Health Issues and Incidence in Southeast Asian and Sub-Saharan African Countries

Benkerroum¹

2020

Preprint

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“…Ochratoxin A, a mycotoxin produced by several Aspergillus and Penicillium species, is associated with chronic interstitial nephropathy (Hmaissia Khlifa et al, 2012;Gil-Serna et al, 2018). Contaminated peanuts have been associated recently with growth faltering (Mupunga et al, 2017). Wheat handlers exposed to A. flavus may have elevated risks of liver cancer as well (Saad-Hussein et al, 2014).…”

Section: Health Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Health Research in Africa: Important Progress and Promising Opportunities

Joubert

Mantooth²,

McAllister

2020

Front. Genet.

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The World Health Organization in 2016 estimated that over 20% of the global disease burden and deaths were attributed to modifiable environmental factors. However, data clearly characterizing the impact of environmental exposures and health endpoints in African populations is limited. To describe recent progress and identify important research gaps, we reviewed literature on environmental health research in African populations over the last decade, as well as research incorporating both genomic and environmental factors. We queried PubMed for peer-reviewed research articles, reviews, or books examining environmental exposures and health outcomes in human populations in Africa. Searches utilized medical subheading (MeSH) terms for environmental exposure categories listed in the March 2018 US National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, which includes chemicals with worldwide distributions. Our search strategy retrieved 540 relevant publications, with studies evaluating health impacts of ambient air pollution (n=105), indoor air pollution (n = 166), heavy metals (n = 130), pesticides (n = 95), dietary mold (n = 61), indoor mold (n = 9), per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs, n = 0), electronic waste (n = 9), environmental phenols (n = 4), flame retardants (n = 8), and phthalates (n = 3), where publications could belong to more than one exposure category. Only 23 publications characterized both environmental and genomic risk factors. Cardiovascular and respiratory health endpoints impacted by air pollution were comparable to observations in other countries. Air pollution exposures unique to Africa and some other resource limited settings were dust and specific occupational exposures. Literature describing harmful health effects of metals, pesticides, and dietary mold represented a context unique to Africa. Studies of exposures to phthalates, PFASs, phenols, and flame retardants were very limited. These results underscore the need for further focus on current and emerging environmental and chemical health risks as well as better integration of genomic and environmental factors in African research studies. Environmental exposures with distinct routes of exposure, unique co-exposures and co-morbidities, combined with the extensive genomic diversity in Africa may lead to the identification of novel mechanisms underlying complex disease and promising potential for translation to global public health.

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“…Recent researches also show that when exposed to a low dose of AFB1, people were more vulnerable to SIV infection and suffered increased severity [21].Another chronic adverse effect of AFB1 is malnutrition and growth impairment. Several observations in developing countries have pointed out the accordance of kwashiorkor occurrence with high AFB1 concentration in sera [22][23][24]. Animal models and in vitro methods have also been used to investigate the mechanism of AFB1induced malnutrition.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Toxic Effects of Aflatoxin B1: An Update

Shan¹

2020

Aflatoxin B1 Occurrence, Detection and Toxicological Effects

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Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is the most toxic in aflatoxin family. It is well known for its involvement in hepatic carcinogenesis. Other adverse effects include immune weakness, reproduction deficiency, malnutrition, and growth impairment. The key mechanism of AFB1 carcinogenesis is supposed to be epoxidation, which produce the AFB1-8,9-epoxide (AFBO) strongly adductive to DNA molecules. Other metabolites like AFM1, AFH1, and AFL, which retain DNA adductive capability, extend its toxicity. Scientists now found that AFB1 also affected epigenetic regulation, which might shed new light into AFB1 toxicity mechanism researches. The detoxification of AFB1 has always been a hot spot in AFB1-related studies. The major methods can be categorized into physical treatment, biological treatment, chemical treatment, combination strategy, and sorbent additives. None of the methods is 100% perfect, however considering economic factors, simplicity, effectiveness, safety, and preservation of the food nutrition. This review will discuss the toxicity and toxic mechanisms of AFB1. Also, detoxification of AFB1 will be reviewed.2 as in the 1970s, its hepatocarcinogenic property has been testified in animal models [5], and there since, several epidemiological studies from Asia and Africa areas monitored intersection of high HCC incidence and AFB1 contamination, with 4.6-28.2% of HCC cases globally attributed to AFB1 exposure [6]. Moreover, hepatitis B virus (HBV) that cooperates with AFB1 can drastically increase the risk of HCC by 30-fold [7]. Recent researches also find evidences that hepatitis C virus (HCV) also has a synergistic role with AFB1 in hepatocarcinogenesis. Jeannot et al. found that the incidence of tumorous or pretumorous lesions was elevated by 2.5-fold in AFB1-treated HCV transgenic mice compared with wild-type mice [8]. Recently, a 20-year clinical follow-up study in Taiwan investigated HCC risk associated with AFB1 exposure in HCV-positive and HBV-HCV-negative individuals. HCV and AFB1 exposure were both found as independent risk factors for HCC development. Elevated serum AFB1albumin adduct levels were significantly associated with an increased risk of HCC newly developed within 8 years of follow-up in non-HBV-non-HCV participants with habitual alcohol consumption [crude OR (95% CI) for high vs. low/undetectable levels, 4.22 (1.16-15.37)], and HCV-infected participants [3.39 (1.31-8.77)], but not in non-HBV-non-HCV participants without alcohol drinking habit. Therefore, it indicated that AFB1 exposure contributes to the development of HCC in participants with significant risk factors for cirrhosis including alcohol and HCV infection [9]. What's more, AFB1 exposure can induce the increased levels of blood glucose in mice and, also, the high probability to develop liver cancer [10].Liver is not the only target organ of AFB1 toxification. Its impairment on the immune system has been established in both humans and animals. Several studies linked AFB1 exposure with reduced levels or functions of immunological factors, such as de...

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Peanuts, Aflatoxins and Undernutrition in Children in Sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 59 publications

References 38 publications

Aflatoxins: Production, Structure, Health Issues and Incidence in Southeast Asian and Sub-Saharan African Countries

Aflatoxins: Production, Structure, Health Issues and Incidence in Southeast Asian and Sub-Saharan African Countries

Environmental Health Research in Africa: Important Progress and Promising Opportunities

The Toxic Effects of Aflatoxin B1: An Update

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