Binding of aflatoxin B1, G1 and M to plasma albumin.

The aflatoxins B1, G1 and their metabolites exist in the systemic blood as protein conjugate. This conjugation is specific to plasma albumin and proceeds enzymatically by liver and kidney cells. The aflatoxin-albumin conjugate is permanent and the conjugation is an irreversible one. This may interpret the acute liver damage of animal ingested a single dose of aflatoxin (3,4). The existence of bound aflatoxin-albumin in the systematic blood could be considered as one factor of low excretions of aflatoxins and their metabolites in urine (5,6,7).