Advances in Mycotoxin Research: Public Health Perspectives

Abstract

Aflatoxins, ochratoxins, fumonisins, deoxynivalenol, and zearalenone are of significant public health concern as they can cause serious adverse effects in different organs including the liver, kidney, and immune system in humans. These toxic secondary metabolites are produced by filamentous fungi mainly in the genus Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium. It is challenging to control the formation of mycotoxins due to the worldwide occurrence of these fungi in food and the environment. In addition to raw agricultural commodities, mycotoxins tend to remain in finished food products as they may not be destroyed by conventional processing techniques. Hence, much of our concern is directed to chronic health effects through long-term exposure to one or multiple mycotoxins from contaminated foods. Ideally risk assessment requires a comprehensive data, including toxicological and epidemiological studies as well as surveillance and exposure assessment. Setting of regulatory limits for mycotoxins is considered necessary to protect human health from mycotoxin exposure. Although advances in analytical techniques provide basic yet critical tool in regulation as well as all aspects of scientific research, it has been acknowledged that different forms of mycotoxins such as analogs and conjugated mycotoxins may constitute a significant source of dietary exposure. Further studies should be warranted to correlate mycotoxin exposure and human health possibly via identification and validation of suitable biomarkers.

Vermamoeba vermiformis-Aspergillus fumigatus relationships and comparison with other phagocytic cells

“…From an ecological point of view, FLA and A. fumigatus have been found together in the rhizosphere of plants (Gugnani 2003;Rosenberg et al 2009;Koller et al 2013), and their interactions in the same habitat could promote fungal development and mycotoxin production with a potential impact on animal food contamination (Lee and Ryu 2015). These relations could also be compared to the mycorrhizosphere of ericaceous plants in which amoebae may be exploited by mycorrhizal fungi as a nutrient source (Vohník et al 2009).…”

Chemical diversity from the Tibetan Plateau fungi Penicillium kongii and P. brasilianum

“…There were many new compounds that have been found constantly in the following years with impressive anticancer and antifungal activities (Bladt et al 2013; Kozlovskii et al 2013; Tang et al 2015; Koul et al 2016). And many mycotoxins causing human and animal diseases were produced in some species of Penicillium , such as citreoviridin, citrinin (CIT), ochratoxin A (OTA), patulin (PAT), penitrem A, and penicillic acid (PA) (Lee & Ryu 2015; Oh et al 2017). Because of the importance of this genus, chemical assessments on more and more Penicillium species have been investigated from different environmental sources.…”

Biodegradation of Deoxynivalenol by a Novel Microbial Consortium

“…DON is one of the most commonly detected contaminants of crops in worldwide, such as maize, wheat, and rice (Lee and Ryu, 2015). The widespread occurrence of this mycotoxin, coupled with the detriments to human health and animal productivity resulting from its consumption, has promoted intensive efforts to identify detoxification measures, including microbial biotransformation (Pestka, 2010;Sobrova et al, 2010;Kris et al, 2014).…”