Should the Focus be on Aflatoxins Alone?
Ron Riley
Toxicology and Mycotoxin Research Unit
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Athens,
Georgia
To be covered:
•Aflatoxin (AFB) and Fumonisin (FB) in Guatemala.
•FB as a Confounder in Studies of AFB Health Effects
“Sown to be eaten, it is the sacred sustenance of the men who were made of maize.
Sown to make money, it means famine for the men who were made of maize”
From “Men of Maize” Miguel Angel Asturias (Translation of the Popol Vuh – sacred book of the Maya)
ppm
n
SEM
All
2.6
640
0.1
16
Clean
2.6
582
0.1
273
Moldy
2.4
58
0.3
ppb
n
SEM
All
180a
640
30
Clean
97b
582
Moldy
1011a
58
Fumonisin and Aflatoxin B1 in Guatemala
in 2012 (Torres et al., unpublished)
AFB1 (ppb)/Total FB (ppm)
308/4.0
195/1.3
117/1.1
200/2.3
85/2.5
70/1.8
283/1.9
13/0.3
34/2.5
16/1.4
26/1.0
105/1.0
19/1.0
30/1.7
0/1.1
8.8/4.6
2.0/2.2
10/1.4
279/2.4
12/3.8 1.1/3.8
0.4/4.6
1992- present - Disruption of sphingolipid metabolism as the
mechanism of action for fumonisin-induced diseases in----•Humans?
•Horse
•Pig
•Goat
•Rabbit
•Mink
•Rat
•Mouse
•Turkey
•Chicken
•Duck
•Catfish
•Trout
•Carp
•Corn seedlings
•Tomato
The concentration of fumonisin B1 in urine and the Sa 1-P/So 1-P ratio
in blood are significantly correlated in a dose-dependent manner.
To be covered:
•Aflatoxin (AFB) and Fumonisin (FB) in Guatemala.
•FB as a Confounder in Studies of AFB Health Effects
1992- present - Disruption of sphingolipid metabolism as the
mechanism of action for fumonisin-induced diseases in----•Humans
•Horse
•Pig
•Goat
•Rabbit
•Mink
•Rat
•Mouse
•Turkey
•Chicken
•Duck
•Catfish
•Trout
•Carp
•Corn seedlings
•Tomato
GSTP+ foci/or nodules
Total (>5 cells/cm2)
Control
0.04
AFB only
5.02
FB1 only
1.65
AFB1FB1
71.8
“…..given the interactions found
experimentally, the co-contamination
of crops by aflatoxins and fumonisins,
and the fact that both toxins occur in
populations with a high prevalence of
HBV infection, a role for fumonisins in
HCC is plausible.”
(page 93, col 3)
“Groundnuts and Mealies”Jackie Caestairs 1989)
Sphingosine 1-phosphate extracellular and “Inside-Out” signaling
through the G protein coupled receptors - S1PR1-5
platelets
HDL
S1P
RBC
+/-
+
-/-
Sph
S1P
+/Cytoskeletal
rearrangement
Neurogenesis
Vascular
maturation
+
Neuronal
excitation
Angiogenesis
Cell motility Hearing
Barrier Lymphocyte
integrity trafficking
Sph salvage and dhSph de novo
and SphK1/2 activation
-/-
S1P & dhS1P
Traditional processing of maize in Central America
Mural-Diego-Rivera-21-photo-by-Mirairi-Erdoza
Financial and Administrative Support 1999 – 2012
Guatemala and Central America
 Red SICTA - IICA/COSUDE
 CONAGRAB, Comision Nacional de Granos Basicos
 Institute of Science and Technology Agricultural (ICTA)
 Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONCYT), FODECYT
 COMUDEB, Hospital General San Juan de Dios
 Puesto de Salud Santa Isabel, Escuintla
 Foundation for Food Nutrition for Central America and Panama (FANCAP)
 Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP)
 Laboratorio Diagnóstico Molecular, CA.
 Pan American Health Organization
United States of America
 USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)
 ILSI NA Technical Committee on Food Toxicology and Safety Assessment
 USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (US NIEHS)
 NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human
Development grant (1RC4HD067971-01 )