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A comparative study of the human urinary mycotoxin excretion patterns in Bangladesh, Germany, and Haiti using a rapid and sensitive LC-MS/MS approach

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Abstract

An improved “dilute and shoot” LC-MS/MS multibiomarker approach was used to monitor urinary excretion of 23 mycotoxins and their metabolites in human populations from Asia (Bangladesh), Europe (Germany), and the Caribbean region (Haiti). Deoxynivalenol (DON), deoxynivalenol-3-glucuronide (DON-3-GlcA), T-2-toxin (T-2), HT-2-toxin (HT-2), HT-2-toxin-4-glucuronide (HT-2-4-GlcA), fumonisin B1 (FB1), aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2, AFM1), zearalenone (ZEA), zearalanone (ZAN), their urinary metabolites α-zearalanol (α-ZEL) and β-zearalanol (β-ZEL), and corresponding 14-O-glucuronic acid conjugates (ZEA-14-GlcA, ZAN-14-GlcA, β-ZEL, α/β–ZEL-14-GlcA), ochratoxin A (OTA), and ochratoxin alpha (OTα) as well as enniatin B (EnB) and dihydrocitrinone (DH-CIT) were among these compounds. Eight urinary mycotoxin biomarkers were detected (AFM1, DH-CIT, DON, DON-GLcA, EnB, FB1, OTA, and α-ZEL). DON and DON-GlcA were exclusively detected in urines from Germany and Haiti whereas urinary OTA and DH-CIT concentrations were significantly higher in Bangladeshi samples. AFM1 was present in samples from Bangladesh and Haiti only. Exposure was estimated by the calculation of probable daily intakes (PDI), and estimates suggested occasional instances of toxin intakes that exceed established tolerable daily intakes (TDI). The detection of individual mycotoxin exposure by biomarker-based approaches is a meaningful addition to the classical monitoring of the mycotoxin content of the food supply.

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Acknowledgments

Nurshad Ali is supported by a stipend from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Sample collection in Port au Prince and Quartier Morin were made possible by grants from the US Agency for International Development through the Peanut Collaborative Research Support Program and the US Borlaug Fellows in Global Food Security Program.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Food Chemistry, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstr. 45, 48149, Münster, Germany

    Johannes Gerding, Benedikt Cramer & Hans-Ulrich Humpf

  2. NRW Graduate School of Chemistry, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 10, 48149, Münster, Germany

    Johannes Gerding & Hans-Ulrich Humpf

  3. Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) at TU Dortmund, Ardeystr. 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany

    Nurshad Ali & Gisela H. Degen

  4. Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, 149 Morrison Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Jeremy Schwartzbord & Dan L. Brown

Authors
  1. Johannes Gerding
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  2. Nurshad Ali
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  3. Jeremy Schwartzbord
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  4. Benedikt Cramer
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  5. Dan L. Brown
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  6. Gisela H. Degen
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  7. Hans-Ulrich Humpf
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Correspondence to Hans-Ulrich Humpf.

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Gerding, J., Ali, N., Schwartzbord, J. et al. A comparative study of the human urinary mycotoxin excretion patterns in Bangladesh, Germany, and Haiti using a rapid and sensitive LC-MS/MS approach. Mycotoxin Res 31, 127–136 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-015-0223-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-015-0223-9

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