Quantitative analysis of PAH compounds in DWH crude oil and their effects on Caenorhabditis elegans germ cell apoptosis, associated with CYP450s upregulation.

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill marked the largest environmental oil spill in human history, where it was estimated a large amount of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were released with crude oil into the environment. In this study, common PAH compounds were quantitatively determined in crude oil from the DWH spill by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Twelve PAH compounds were identified and quantified from a 100× dilution of DWH crude oil: naphthalene (7800 ng/mL), acenaphthylene (590 ng/mL), acenaphtehen (540 ng/mL), fluorene (2550 ng/mL), phenanthrene (2910 ng/mL), anthracene (840 ng/mL), fluoranthene (490 ng/mL), pyrene (290 ng/mL), benzo(k) fluoranthene (1050 ng/mL), benzo(b)fluoranthene (1360 ng/mL), dibenz(a,h)anthracene (2560 ng/mL), and benzo(g, h, i) perylene (630 ng/mL). Toxicity assays using the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), indicated a single PAH compound naphthalene, exposure increased C. elegans germ cell apoptosis which may adversely affect progeny reproduction. The number of apoptotic germ cells significantly increased from 1.4 to 2.5 when worms were treated with 10 µg/mL of naphthalene and from 1.3 to 2.5 and 3.5 cells in presence of 1 µg/mL and 5 µg/mL of benzo(a)pyrene, respectively. Five CYP450 genes (CYP14A3, CYP35A1, CYP35A2, CYP35A5, and CYP35C1) were significantly upregulated following 500× dilution of dispersed crude oil exposure (p < 0.05). These results suggest that CYP450s may play a role in bioactivation of PAHs in crude oil, resulting in DNA damage related germ cell apoptosis.

MDM2 as a target for ellagic acid­mediated suppression of prostate cancer cells in vitro.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer in men. Despite the available treatments for PCa, a significant number of patients relapse as the disease becomes hormonal­independent. p53 is a common tumor suppressor; however, its activity is diminished via the overexpression of murine double minute­2 (MDM2). The pomegranate, walnuts, and blueberries are widely consumed fruits and nuts that contain several polyphenolic compounds, mainly ellagic acid (EA). The present study focused on the influence of EA on the p53/MDM2 pathway in PCa cell lines. Three human PCa cell lines PCa LNCaP (p53+/+), 22RV1 (p53-/+), and PC3 (p53-/-) harboring different p53 genotypes were used in this research. We found that EA downregulated the gene and protein expression levels of MDM2 and increased the protein expression of p53 as determined by qPCR and western blot analyses. Moreover, by using western blot analysis, we determined that EA increased the protein expression of the p53 target proteins p21, p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) [also known as Bcl­2­binding component 3 (BBC3)] and Phorbol­12­myristate­13­acetate­induced protein 1 (NOXA). Furthermore, we found that EA induced apoptosis in the absence of p53 by downregulating MDM2 and X­linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) protein expressions as determined by western blot analysis. We conclude that EA suppressed PCa cells in vitro partly by downregulating MDM2.

Aflatoxin B1: A review on metabolism, toxicity, occurrence in food, occupational exposure, and detoxification methods.

Aflatoxins are a class of carcinogenic mycotoxins produced by Aspergillus fungi and are known to contaminate a large portion of the world's food supply. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is the most potent of these compounds and has been well-characterized to lead to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in humans and animals. This review focuses on the metabolism of AFB1, including epoxidation and DNA adduction, as it concerns the initiation of cancer and the underlying mechanisms. The link between AFB1 consumption and HCC is also discussed including synergistic interactions with the hepatitis B virus. Toxic effects of AFB1, including growth suppression, malnutrition, and immunomodulation, are also covered. This review also describes recent reports of AFB1 occurrence in global food supplies and exposures in occupational settings. Furthermore, a summary of recent detoxification methods is included to indicate the present state of the field in developing aflatoxin control methods. This information shows that AFB1 occurs frequently in food supplies at high concentrations, particularly in maize. Regarding detoxification methods, chemical control methods were the fastest methods that still retained high detoxification efficacy. The information presented here highlights the need to implement new and/or existing detoxification methods to reduce the global burden of AFB1 toxicity.

Adduction to arginine detoxifies aflatoxin B1 by eliminating genotoxicity and altering in vitro toxicokinetic profiles.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a class 1 carcinogen and prominent food contaminant, is highly linked to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and plays a causative role in a large portion of global HCC cases. We have demonstrated that a mixture of common organic acids (citric and phosphoric acid) along with arginine can eliminate >99% of AFB1 in solution as well as on corn kernels and convert it to the AFB2a-Arg adduct, acting as a potential detoxification process for contaminated foods. Evaluation of toxicokinetic changes after AFB2a-Arg formation show that the product is highly stable in biological fluids, is not metabolized by P450 enzymes, is highly plasma protein bound, has low lipid solubility, and has poor intestinal permeability/high intestinal efflux compared to AFB1. Ames' test results show that at mutagenic concentrations of AFB1, AFB2a-Arg does not have any measurable mutagenic effect which was confirmed by DNA adduct identification by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Evaluation in HepG2 and HepaRG cells showed that AFB2a-Arg did not cause any significant decreases in cell viability nor did it increase micronuclei formation when administered at toxic concentrations of AFB1. These results show that conversion of AFB1 to AFB2a-Arg is a potential strategy to detoxify contaminated foods.

Structure and Oxidation of Pyrrole Adducts Formed between Aflatoxin B2a and Biological Amines.

Aflatoxin B2a has been shown to bind to proteins through a dialdehyde intermediate under physiological conditions. The proposed structure of this adduct has been published showing a Schiff base interaction, but adequate verification using structural elucidation instrumental techniques has not been performed. In this work, we synthesized the aflatoxin B2a amino acid adduct under alkaline conditions, and the formation of a new product was determined using high performance liquid chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The resulting accurate mass was used to generate a novel proposed chemical structure of the adduct in which the dialdehyde forms a pyrrole ring with primary amines rather than the previously proposed Schiff base interaction. The pyrrole structure was confirmed using 1H, 13C, correlation spectroscopy, heteronuclear single quantum correlation, and heteronuclear multiple bond correlation NMR and tandem mass spectrometry. Reaction kinetics show that the reaction is overall second order and that the rate increases as pH increases. Additionally, this study shows for the first time that aflatoxin B2a dialdehyde forms adducts with phosphatidylethanolamines and does so through pyrrole ring formation, which makes it the first aflatoxin-lipid adduct to be structurally identified. Furthermore, oxidation of the pyrrole adduct produced a product that was 16 m/z heavier. When the aflatoxin B2a-lysine (ε) adduct was oxidized, it gave a product with an accurate mass, mass fragmentation pattern, and 1H NMR spectrum that match aflatoxin B1-lysine, which suggest the transformation of the pyrrole ring to a pyrrolin-2-one ring. These data give new insight into the fate and chemical properties of biological adducts formed from aflatoxin B2a as well as possible interferences with known aflatoxin B1 exposure biomarkers.

Solvent-dependent transformation of aflatoxin B1 in soil.

To date, all studies of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) transformation in soil or in purified mineral systems have identified aflatoxins B2 (AFB2) and G2 (AFG2) as the primary transformation products. However, identification in these studies was made using thin layer chromatography which has relatively low resolution, and these studies did not identify a viable mechanism by which such transformations would occur. Further, the use of methanol as the solvent delivery vehicle in these studies may have contributed to formation of artifactual transformation products. In this study, we investigated the role of the solvent vehicle in the transformation of AFB1 in soil. To do this, we spiked soils with AFB1 dissolved in water (93:7, water/methanol) or methanol and used HPLC-UV and HPLC-MS to identify the transformation products. Contrasting previous published reports, we did not detect AFB2 or AFG2. In an aqueous-soil environment, we identified aflatoxin B2a (AFB2a) as the single major transformation product. We propose that AFB2a is formed from hydrolysis of AFB1 with the soil acting as an acid catalyst. Alternatively, when methanol was used, we identified methoxy aflatoxin species likely formed via acid-catalyzed addition of methanol to AFB1. These results suggest that where soil moisture is adequate, AFB1 is hydrolyzed to AFB2a and that reactive organic solvents should be avoided when replicating natural conditions to study the fate of AFB1 in soil.

Effect of dietary acids on the formation of aflatoxin B2a as a means to detoxify aflatoxin B1.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a class 1 carcinogen and a common food contaminant worldwide with widely uncontrolled human exposure. The ability of organic acids to transform AFB1 into a known detoxified form, aflatoxin B2a (AFB2a), was investigated using high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-time of flight mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI/TOF/MS). The identity of the transformation product was confirmed by accurate mass measurement, chromatographic separation from other aflatoxins, H(1)-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Of the weak acids tested, citric acid was found to be the most effective for AFB2a formation. At room temperature, 1 M citric acid was able to convert > 97% of AFB1 to AFB2a over 96 h of treatment. Up to 98% transformation was achieved by boiling AFB1 in the presence of citric acid for 20 min. AFB1 hydration after ingestion was explored by spiking AFB1 into simulated gastric fluid containing citric acid. Under these conditions, > 71% of AFB1 was hydrated to AFB2a and did not show any reversion to the parent compound after being transferred to a neutral solution. These results provide a basis for a practical and effective method for detoxification of AFB1 in contaminated foods.

Supercritical fluid extraction of aflatoxin B(1) from soil.

This research describes the development of a supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) method to recover aflatoxin B(1) from fortified soil. The effects of temperature, pressure, modifier (identity and percentage), and extraction type were assessed. Using the optimized SFE conditions, the mean recovery from air dried soil was 72%. The variables associated with changes in recovery of aflatoxin were co-solvents, static extraction, and temperature. Acetonitrile-2% acetic acid, used both in-cell and on-line, provided the most efficient recovery. The results indicate that desorption from the soil was the limiting factor in recovery and that the static phase was more important than the dynamic.