Ochratoxin a in breast milk in Morocco: the affecting dietary habits of the lactating mothers and the degree of exposure of newborns "CONTAMILK study"

Determination of aflatoxin M1 and ochratoxin A in breast milk in rural centers of Yazd, Iran: Exposure assessment and risk characterization

Breast milk (BM) is considered as the best source of nutrition which could have prevention effects on various diseases in the first years of a child. Along with nutritive compounds, presence of contaminants such as mycotoxins in BM could be transmitted into neonate. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence, levels, and factors associated with the presence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) and ocratoxin a (OTA) in BM samples of nursing mothers in rural centers of Yazd, Iran. The presence and average AFM1 and OTA concentration in 72 BM samples was measured by competitive ELISA. The demographic and diet parameters of nursing mothers were collected by a questionnaire and were analyzed using SPSS 18 software. AFM1 and OTA were detected in 63 (87.5%) and 47 (65.2%) samples with the mean concentration levels of 19.46 ± 13.26 ng/L (ranges from 5.1 to 53.9) and 200 ± 160 ng/L (ranges from 100 to 2460), respectively. Of these, 32 samples (50.7%) for AFM1 and 23 samples (48.9%) for OTA had values exceeding the limit set by the European Union regulation for infant foods (25 ng/L for AFM1 and 500 ng/L for OTA). It was also found that the risk of AFM1 and OTA occurrence in BM increased significantly with the consumption of beans, bread, cereals, fruit juice and crackers, and cream, respectively. This study showed that the estimated daily intake for AFM1 and OTA by 1 month of age infants was 2.7 and 28.5 ng/kg bw/day, respectively, while, as the age of the infant increased, the values were lower and close to 0.9 and 9.9 ng/kg bw/day for AFM1 and OTA in 12 months of age infants, respectively. The high occurrence and noticeable levels of AFM1 and OTA detected in this study indicated that some infants receive undesirable exposures to AFM1 and OTA with breast milk. Therefore, it is recommended that mothers are advised to avoid certain foods during pregnancy and breastfeeding that are likely sources of mycotoxins.

Mycotoxin contamination in the Arab world: Highlighting the main knowledge gaps and the current legislation

Since the discovery of aflatoxins in the 1960s, knowledge in the mycotoxin research field has increased dramatically. Hundreds of review articles have been published summarizing many different aspects, including mycotoxin contamination per country or region. However, mycotoxin contamination in the Arab world, which includes 22 countries in Africa and Asia, has not yet been specifically reviewed. To this end, the contamination of mycotoxins in the Arab world was reviewed not only to profile the pervasiveness of the problem in this region but also to identify the main knowledge gaps imperiling the safety of food and feed in the future. To the best of our knowledge, 306 (non-)indexed publications in English, Arabic, or French were published from 1977 to 2021, focusing on the natural occurrence of mycotoxins in matrices of 14 different categories. Characteristic factors (e.g., detected mycotoxins, concentrations, and detection methods) were extracted, processed, and visualized. The main results are summarized as follows: (i) research on mycotoxin contamination has increased over the years. However, the accumulated data on their occurrences are scarce to non-existent in some countries; (ii) the state-of-the-art technologies on mycotoxin detection are not broadly implemented neither are contemporary multi-mycotoxin detection strategies, thus showing a need for capacity-building initiatives; and (iii) mycotoxin profiles differ among food and feed categories, as well as between human biofluids. Furthermore, the present work highlights contemporary legislation in the Arab countries and provides future perspectives to mitigate mycotoxins, enhance food and feed safety, and protect the consumer public. Concluding, research initiatives to boost mycotoxin research among Arab countries are strongly recommended.

Occurrence of ochratoxin A in breast milk and urine samples of nursing mothers in Bangladesh

The mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) is a potent nephrotoxin with carcinogenic properties and, thus, of concern as a food contaminant. Since food contaminant data are scarce in Bangladesh, we applied human biomonitoring to gain more insights into OTA exposure in the country's population. OTA concentrations in human milk and urine samples of nursing mothers were determined with the aim to assess also exposure to this mycotoxin in breastfed infants. Breastfeeding mothers (n = 74) from three districts of Bangladesh (Sylhet, Cumilla, and Mymensingh region) participated in this study. They provided demographic data, along with breast milk and urine samples. OTA levels were measured by a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with a detection limit of 60 ng/L for milk and 30 ng/L for urine.OTA was detected in 62.2% of all breast milk samples (mean 74.8 ± 49.0 ng/L, range < LOD-243.3 ng/L) and in 51.4% of all urine samples (mean 44.3 ± 63.5 ng/L, range < LOD-519.3 ng/L). The differences observed between regions for mean breast milk or for urinary OTA levels were relatively small. No significant correlation was observed between OTA levels in breast milk and food consumption patterns among nursing mothers. Regarding infant exposure, the estimated average daily intake of OTA for all was 15.0 ng/kg bw/day (range 4.5-45 ng/kg bw/day). In 34.5% of these infants, their estimated daily OTA intake exceeded a preliminary TDI value set by EFSA (17 ng/kg bw/day). The mean OTA intake was slightly higher (16.2 ± 7.8 ng/kg bw/day) in 1-2 months babies than in older infants (< 2 to 12 months), although the difference was not significant. Presence of OTA in most milk and urine samples of nursing mothers documents their widespread dietary mycotoxin exposure. Although based on a relatively small number of participants, the present analysis indicates non-negligible exposure of some nursed infants in Bangladesh. Therefore, further biomonitoring studies and investigations on major sources of OTA in food commodities are encouraged.

Excessive ER-phagy contributes to ochratoxin A-induced apoptosis

The nephrotoxic secondary fungal metabolite ochratoxin A (OTA) is ubiquitously existed in foodstuffs and feeds. Although our earlier research provided preliminary evidence that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) was crucial in OTA-induced nephrotoxicity, more research is necessary to understand the fine-tune mechanisms involving ER stress (ERS), ER-phagy, and apoptosis. In the present study, the cell viability and protein expressions of human proximal tubule epithelial (HK-2) cells in response to OTA and/or chloroquine/rapamycin/sodium phenylbutyrate/tunicamycin were determined via cell viability assay, apoptosis analysis, and Western blot analysis. The findings showed that a 24 h-treatment of 0.25-4 μM OTA could significantly reduced the cell viability (P < 0.05), which notably increased with the addition of chloroquine and sodium phenylbutyrate, while decreased with the addition of rapamycin and tunicamycin as compared to group OTA (P < 0.05). A 24 h-treatment of 1-4 μM OTA could markedly induce apoptosis via increasing the protein expressions of GRP78, p-eIF2α, Chop, LC3B-II, Bak, and Bax, and inhibiting the protein expressions of DDRGK1, UBA5, Lonp1, Tex264, FAM134B, p-mTOR, p62, and Bcl-2 in HK-2 cells (P < 0.05). In conclusion, OTA activated ERS, unfolded protein response, and subsequent excessive ER-phagy, thus inducing apoptosis, and the vicious cycle between excessive ER-phagy and ERS could further promote apoptosis in vitro.

The Occurrence and Contamination Level of Ochratoxin A in Plant and Animal-Derived Food Commodities

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a highly toxic mycotoxin and poses great threat to human health. Due to its serious toxicity and widespread contamination, great efforts have been made to evaluate its human exposure. This review focuses on the OTA occurrence and contamination level in nine plant and animal derived food commodities: cereal, wine, coffee, beer, cocoa, dried fruit, spice, meat, and milk. The occurrence and contamination level varied greatly in food commodities and were affected by many factors, including spices, geography, climate, and storage conditions. Therefore, risk monitoring must be routinely implemented to ensure minimal OTA intake and food safety.

An Immunoenzymatic Method for the Determination of Ochratoxin A in Biological Liquids (Colostrum and Cow's Milk)

Ochratoxins are mycotoxins that have been extensively studied lately due to the multiple toxic effects such as nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. These toxins contaminate plant and animal foods and after ingestion they reach into body fluids. The method of competitive direct enzyme immunoassay, in the solid phase, was validated through the determination of specific parameters (performance, linearity, recovery percentage, limit of detection, limit of quantification). The validated method was used to determine ochratoxin A in colostrum and cow's milk. The method applied for the determination of ochratoxin A was linear for the concentration range of 0.0-0.5 ng/mL, the value for the regression coefficient (r) was 0.9838. Ochratoxin A was present in 91.67% of the colostrum and in 93.33% of cow's milk samples. The linearity of the method, demonstrated for very low concentrations of analyte, the detection limit as well as the limit of quantification recommend the method for the determinations of micro-pollutants from foods, including biological fluids.