Brückner Lea, Neuendorff Florian, Hadenfeldt Katharina, Behrens Matthias, Cramer Benedikt, Humpf Hans-Ulrich
Institute of Food Chemistry, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany.
Toxins (Basel). 2025 Feb 13;17(2):86. doi: 10.3390/toxins17020086.
Citrinin (CIT) is a nephrotoxic mycotoxin commonly found in a broad range of foods, including cereals, spices, nuts, or fermentation products. Analyses have shown that CIT is present in processed foods in significantly lower concentrations than in unprocessed materials. Modified forms of CIT arising during food processing may provide an explanation for the discrepancy. This study deals with the thermal stability of CIT and the formation of reaction products of CIT with carbohydrates, followed by toxicological evaluations using cell culture models. HPLC-HRMS degradation curves of CIT heated in different matrix model systems were recorded, and the formation of decarboxycitrinin (DCIT), the main degradation product, was quantified. Additionally, chemical structures of reaction products of CIT with carbohydrates were tentatively identified using MS/MS spectra and stable isotope labelling. Subsequently, the degradation of CIT during biscuit baking was studied, and carbohydrate-bound forms of CIT were detected after enzymatic starch digestion. The formation of DCIT could explain the majority of CIT degradation, but, depending on the process, covalent binding to carbohydrates can also be highly relevant. Cytotoxicity of DCIT in IHKE-cells was found to be lower compared to CIT, while the toxicity as well as the intestinal metabolism of carbohydrate-bound CIT was not evaluated.
桔霉素（CIT）是一种肾毒性霉菌毒素，常见于多种食品中，包括谷物、香料、坚果或发酵产品。分析表明，加工食品中CIT的含量明显低于未加工原料。食品加工过程中产生的CIT修饰形式可能解释了这种差异。本研究探讨了CIT的热稳定性以及CIT与碳水化合物反应产物的形成，随后使用细胞培养模型进行了毒理学评估。记录了CIT在不同基质模型系统中加热的HPLC-HRMS降解曲线，并对主要降解产物脱羧桔霉素（DCIT）的形成进行了定量。此外，利用MS/MS光谱和稳定同位素标记初步鉴定了CIT与碳水化合物反应产物的化学结构。随后，研究了饼干烘焙过程中CIT的降解情况，并在酶解淀粉后检测到了与碳水化合物结合的CIT形式。DCIT的形成可以解释大部分CIT的降解，但根据加工过程的不同，与碳水化合物的共价结合也可能高度相关。发现DCIT对IHKE细胞的细胞毒性低于CIT，而与碳水化合物结合的CIT的毒性以及肠道代谢未进行评估。
