Letter_to_PLoS_One

BMC Research Notes

Objective: Nodding syndrome (NS) is a type of epilepsy characterized by repeated head-nodding seizures that appear in previously healthy children between 3 and 18 years of age. In 2012, during a WHO International Meeting on NS in Kampala, Uganda, it was recommended that fungal contamination of foods should be investigated as a possible cause of the disease. We therefore aimed to assess whether consumption of fungal mycotoxins contributes to NS development. Results: We detected similar high levels of total aflatoxin and ochratoxin in mostly millet, sorghum, maize and groundnuts in both households with and without children with NS. Furthermore, there was no significant association between concentrations of total aflatoxin, ochratoxin and doxynivalenol and the presence of children with NS in households. In conclusion, our results show no supporting evidence for the association of NS with consumption of mycotoxins in contaminated foods.

Toxins

This case-control study adds to the growing body of knowledge on the medical, nutritional, and environmental factors associated with Nodding Syndrome (NS), a seizure disorder of children and adolescents in northern Uganda. Past research described a significant association between NS and prior history of measles infection, dependence on emergency food and, at head nodding onset, subsistence on moldy maize, which has the potential to harbor mycotoxins. We used LC-MS/MS to screen for current mycotoxin loads by evaluating nine analytes in urine samples from age-and-gender matched NS cases (n = 50) and Community Controls (CC, n = 50). The presence of the three mycotoxins identified in the screening was not significantly different between the two groups, so samples were combined to generate an overall view of exposure in this community during the study. Compared against subsequently run standards, α-zearalenol (43 ± 103 µg/L in 15 samples > limit of quantitation (LOQ); 0 (0/359) µg/L),...

Contamination of food with fungal toxins is a plausible etiologic factor in Nodding Syndrome, a form of epilepsy affecting thousands of children in east Africa. Children developed eating-and cold-induced atonic seizures (with head nodding) and generalized seizures during periods of community displacement when food sources were unreliable and food quality was compromised. Seed of Sorghum bicolor, an important food source during displacement, was collected in a region with Nodding Syndrome. Seed extracts were subjected to a multi-mycotoxin LS-MS/MS assay for 87 analytes. Among other mycotoxins, beauvericin (BEA) was identified and confirmed by comparison with a standard using both multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) and enhanced product ion scans. Principal component analysis of all positive-mode MRM transitions revealed clustering of BEA-positive samples (328-744 µg/kg) in "old" sorghum seed samples. BEA is an apolar lipophilic cyclohexadepsipeptide that forms ionophores in ...

Mycological Research, 1992

Journal of Food Protection, 2003

A number of toxinogenic fungal species, particularly producers of tremorgenic mycotoxins, have been isolated from traditional fermented meats. Tremorgenic mycotoxins are a group of fungal metabolites known to act on the central nervous system, causing sustained tremors, convulsions, and death in animals. However, the mode of action of these mycotoxins has not been elucidated in detail, and their genotoxic capacity has hardly been investigated. Because genotoxicity is one of the most prominent toxicological end points in food safety testing, we assessed the genotoxicity of ve tremorgenic mycotoxins (fumitremorgen B, paxilline, penitrem A, verrucosidin, and verruculogen) associated with molds found in fermented meats. The mycotoxins were tested in two short-term in vitro assays with the use of different genotoxic end points in different phylogenetic systems (the Ames Salmonella/mammalian-microsome assay and the single-cell gel electrophoresis assay of human lymphocytes). According to the results obtained in this study, all of the investigated mycotoxins except penitrem A exhibited a certain degree of genotoxicity. Verrucosidin appeared to have the highest toxic potential, testing positive in both assays. Verruculogen tested positive in the Salmonella/mammalian-microsome assay, and paxilline and fumitremorgen B caused DNA damage in human lymphocytes. The use of fungal starter cultures to avoid tremorgen contamination in fermented meats is recommended.

Katarzyna Lazicka, Slawomir Orzechowski

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites of fungi belonging mainly to the Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium genera. They can be formed in various agricultural produce in specific conditions. These natural and zootoxic chemical compounds cause an array of diseases in people and animals, i.e., mycotoxicoses. Depending on the type and dose, mycotoxins may cause liver, kidney, and lung cancers, as well as damage to the immune system, pathological changes in the nervous system, and reproduction disorders. Many mycotoxins disrupt digestion process, cause vomiting, nausea, anorexia, skin irritation and dermatitis, and even haemorrhages. A significant threat to the health of animals and people can be observed in the case of major infestation of crop ears from which foodstuff or feed are then produced. The ear infestation is facilitated by a suitable humidity and temperature during the growing season or while harvesting and storing the agricultural produce, which enhances the growth of...

Foods

Mycotoxins are produced by fungi and are known to be toxic to humans and animals. Common mycotoxins include aflatoxins, ochratoxins, zearalenone, patulin, sterigmatocystin, citrinin, ergot alkaloids, deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, trichothecenes, Alternaria toxins, tremorgenic mycotoxins, fusarins, 3-nitropropionic acid, cyclochlorotine, sporidesmin, etc. These mycotoxins can pose several health risks to both animals and humans, including death. As several mycotoxins simultaneously occur in nature, especially in foods and feeds, the detoxification and/or total removal of mycotoxins remains challenging. Moreover, given that the volume of scientific literature regarding mycotoxins is steadily on the rise, there is need for continuous synthesis of the body of knowledge. To supplement existing information, knowledge of mycotoxins affecting animals, foods, humans, and plants, with more focus on types, toxicity, and prevention measures, including strategies employed in detoxification and rem...

2001

The presence of mycotoxins in a wide variety of Nigerian foodstuffs is a potential health hazard for the human population. The major fungal species implicated in the production of these toxins include Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium. A random sample of maize and groundnuts harvested from farms in Ilorin and Ogbomoso, Nigeria, revealed the presence of fungal contaminants such as aflatoxins, moniliformin, zearalenone and cyclopiazonic acid in various amounts. Of the four toxins, only cyclopiazonic acid is a known inhibitor of the calcium-pumping adenosine triphosphatase (Ca 2+ -ATPase) in skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum. Since the Ca 2+ -ATPase represents about 85 per cent of the total proteins in the sarcoplasmic reticulum, ingestion of this mycotoxin will definitely have an effect on muscle development and function. We suggest here that the ingestion of cyclopiazonic acid in contaminated foodstuffs could play a role in the aetiology of muscle wasting diseases prevalent in the tropics.

Berkeley Scientific Journal, 2018