Aflatoxins in Food and Human Health Risk / Монголын Анагаах Ухаан

ABSTRACT

Aflatoxins are the secondary metabolites of the fungi namely, Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. They can colonize and contaminate grain before harvest or during storage. There are about twenty related secondary forms of aflatoxins, and subtypes B₁, B₂, G₁, G₂. These aflatoxins frequently contaminate the foods and feeds (Yu J et al, 2000, Imanaka BT et al, 2007). Aflatoxin B1, the most toxic, is a potent hepatocarcinogenic and genotoxigenic metabolites that have been classified as group I carcinogens by International Agency of Research on Cancer (International Agency for Research on cancer, 1993). Aflatoxin M1 is found in milk of lactating cows that have consumed feeds contaminated with aflatoxin B₁. Aflatoxin M₁ was originally classified as a Group 2B human carcinogen in 1993, but subsequent evidences of its cytotoxic, genotoxic and carcinogenic effects led to a new categorization of aflaoxin M1 as Group I (International Agency for Research on cancer, 2002). Aflatoxins can affect a wide range of commodities, including crops, cereals, oilseeds, spices, tree nuts, milk, meat, and dried fruit (Wilson DM et al, 1994, Bao L et al, 2010). Mongolia has been imported foods about 60 percent of food demands including wheat, flour, rice, milk, dairy products, peanuts and maize. This situation is required to study aflatoxin contamination in food in Mongolia. Epidemiological studies have found that dietary exposure to aflatoxin and chronic infection with hepatitis B, C virus are three major risk factors for HCC (Viviani et al. 1997; Hall et al. 2003). HCC as a result of chronic aflatoxin exposure has been well documented, presenting most often in persons with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (Wild and Gong, 2010). The risk of liver cancer in individuals exposed to chronic HBV infection and aflatoxin is up to 30 times greater than the risk in individuals exposed to aflatoxin (Groopman et al., 2008). According to the WHO, the national liver cancer incidence rates was 54.1 per 100.000 population, the prevalence of HBV and HCV infection in 11.8%, 15.6% were respectively (J.Abarsanaa, 2012). This situation is a serous public health problem in Mongolia. Thus, we aimed to carry out the monitoring surveillance survey on the aflatoxin contamination level in some food.