The epidemiological studies suggest that aflatoxins, the toxic metabolites of the ubiquitous mold Aspergillus flavus, may play a significant role in the evolution of hepatocellular carcinoma in man in certain geographic areas of the world. To ascertain their carcinogenicity in nonhuman primates, we have administered highly purified aflatoxin B1, intermittently in the diet at 2 ppm, to 10 female...

Food and feedstuff contamination with aflatoxins (AFTs) is a serious health problem for humans and animals, especially in developing countries. The present study evaluated antifungal activities of two lactic acid bacteria (LAB) against growth and aflatoxin production of toxigenic Aspergillus parasiticus. The mycelial growth inhibition rate of A. parasiticus PTCC 5286 was investigated in the pre...

Dried figs collected from various exporting companies (2,461 samples) and local stores (219 samples) were analyzed using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) to determine and compare the incidence of aflatoxins, the effectiveness of the regulation limits and monitoring system to select non-compliant samples and the mean daily aflatoxin exposures. The incidence rates of...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fifth most common cancer and a major public health problem worldwide. Differences in distribution of hepatocellular carcinoma incidence are probably due to different levels of exposure to hepatocellular carcinoma risk factors: chronic infections with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and aflatoxin exposure in developing countries, and smoking and alcohol ab...

An improved analytical method compared with conventional ones was developed for simultaneous determination of 13 mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, 3-acetylnivalenol, aflatoxin B₁, aflatoxin B₂, aflatoxin G₁, aflatoxin G₂, fumonisin B₁, fumonisin B₂, T-2, HT-2, zearalenone, and ochratoxin A) in cereal grains by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) after a single immunoa...

A total of 65 maize grain samples , from 7 maize producing areas of Pakistan, were assayed for 14 toxicologically significant mycotoxins viz., aflatoxin B1 (AfB1), aflatoxin B2 (AfB2), aflatoxin G1 (AfG1), aflatoxin G2 (AfG2), zearalenone (ZON), deoxynivalenol (DON), 3acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3A-DON), 15acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15A-DON), nivalenol (NIV), T-2 toxin (T-2), HT-2 toxin (HT-2), diacetox...

This research examined the expression patterns of 94 stress-related genes in seven maize inbred lines with differential expressions of resistance to aflatoxin contamination. The objective was to develop a set of genes/probes associated with resistance to A. flavus and/or aflatoxin contamination. Ninety four genes were selected from previous gene expression studies with abiotic stress to test th...

Occurrence of aflatoxins in crops has vast impacts on human health. Therefore, the study of aflatoxin biosynthesis has become important. Previous studies have shown that the aflatoxin biosynthesis gene cluster and several genes, enzymes, and regulatory elements are involved in aflatoxin biosynthesis; however, the intricate metabolic regulatory networks of aflatoxin synthesis remain unclear. Rap...

West African Aspergillus flavus S isolates differed from North American isolates. Both produced aflatoxin B1. However, 40 and 100% of West African isolates also produced aflatoxin G1 in NH4 medium and urea medium, respectively. No North American S strain isolate produced aflatoxin G1. This geographical and physiological divergence may influence aflatoxin management.

Aflatoxins are toxic and carcinogenic polyketide metabolites produced by fungal species, including Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. The biosynthesis of aflatoxins is modulated by many environmental factors, including the availability of a carbon source. The gene expression profile of A. parasiticus was evaluated during a shift from a medium with low concentration of simple sugars, yeast e...