Centre of Excellence in Mycotoxicology and Public Health, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", University of Murcia, E-30100 Murcia, Spain.
Toxins (Basel). 2024 Jun 28;16(7):296. doi: 10.3390/toxins16070296.
Mycotoxins, natural toxins produced by fungi, contaminate nearly 80% of global food crops. mycotoxins, including alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethylether (AME), and tenuazonic acid (TeA), present a health concern due to their prevalence in various plants and fruits. Exposure to these toxins exceeds the threshold of toxicological concern in some European populations, especially infants and toddlers. Despite this, regulatory standards for toxins remain absent. The lack of toxicokinetic parameters, reference levels, and sensitive detection methods complicates risk assessment and highlights the necessity for advanced biomonitoring (HBM) techniques. This study addresses these challenges by developing and validating ultra-high performance liquid chromatography method coupled with tandem mass spectrometry to quantify AOH, AME, TeA, and their conjugates in multiple biological matrices. The validated method demonstrates robust linearity, precision, recovery (94-111%), and sensitivity across urine (LOD < 0.053 ng/mL), capillary blood (LOD < 0.029 ng/mL), and feces (LOD < 0.424 ng/g), with significantly lower LOD for TeA compared to existing methodologies. The application of minimally invasive microsampling techniques for the blood collection enhances the potential for large-scale HBM studies. These advancements represent a step toward comprehensive HBM and exposure risk assessments for toxins, facilitating the generation of data for regulatory authorities.
真菌产生的天然毒素——霉菌毒素，污染了全球近 80%的粮食作物。霉菌毒素包括 alternariol (AOH)、alternariol monomethylether (AME) 和 tenuazonic acid (TeA)，由于它们在各种植物和水果中普遍存在，对健康构成了威胁。在一些欧洲人群中，尤其是婴儿和幼儿，接触这些毒素的量已经超过了毒理学关注阈值。尽管如此，毒素的监管标准仍然缺失。缺乏毒代动力学参数、参考水平和敏感的检测方法，使得风险评估变得复杂，并凸显了先进生物监测（HBM）技术的必要性。本研究通过开发和验证超高效液相色谱法与串联质谱法，对尿液、毛细血管血和粪便中的 AOH、AME、TeA 及其共轭物进行定量分析，解决了这些挑战。该验证方法在尿液（LOD < 0.053ng/mL）、毛细血管血（LOD < 0.029ng/mL）和粪便（LOD < 0.424ng/g）中表现出良好的线性、精密度、回收率（94-111%）和灵敏度，与现有方法相比，TeA 的检测限明显更低。采用微创微采样技术采集血液，提高了大规模 HBM 研究的潜力。这些进展标志着朝着全面的 HBM 和暴露风险评估迈进了一步，为监管机构提供了数据支持。
