title: Assessment of human deoxynivalenol exposure using an LC-MS/MS based biomarker method.
abstract: The Fusarium toxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most abundant mycotoxins worldwide and poses many adverse health effects to human and animals. Consequently, regulatory limits and a provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) for this important type B-trichothecene were assigned. We conducted a pilot survey to investigate the level of DON exposure in Austrian adults by measurements of DON and its glucuronide conjugates (DON-GlcA's), as biomarkers of exposure, in first morning urine. The average concentration of total DON (free DON+DON-GlcA's) was estimated to be 20.4±2.4 μg L⁻¹ (max. 63 μg L⁻¹). Surprisingly, we found that one third of the volunteers (n=27) exceeded the established PMTDI when consuming regular diet. DON-GlcA's were directly quantified by LC-MS/MS and the results were compared with indirect quantification after enzymatic hydrolysis and confirmed the suitability of the direct method. Moreover, we investigated the in vivo metabolism of DON in humans and were able to determine two closely eluting DON-GlcA's in naturally contaminated urine samples for the first time. In contrast to previous findings we have tentatively identified DON-15-glucuronide as a major DON metabolite in human urine based on the analysis of these samples. About 75% of total glucuronides were derived from this metabolite while DON-3-glucuronide accounted for approximately 25%. The reported new findings clearly demonstrate the great potential of suitable biomarkers to critically assess exposure of humans and animals to DON.
authors.affiliation: Center for Analytical Chemistry and Christian Doppler Laboratory for Mycotoxin Metabolism, Department for Agrobiotechnology-IFA-Tulln, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Konrad-Lorenz-Str. 20, A-3430 Tulln, Austria.
authors.forename: Benedikt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Warth
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sulyok
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fruhmann
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berthiller
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schuhmacher
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hametner
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fröhlich
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001317:Austria; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D004032:Diet; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020719:Glucuronides / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000652:urine*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D014255:Trichothecenes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000652:urine*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020719:Glucuronides; D009183:Mycotoxins; D014255:Trichothecenes; C573133:deoxynivalenol-15-glucuronide; C573134:deoxynivalenol-3-glucuronide; D003404:Creatinine; C007262:deoxynivalenol