title: Zearalenone and its metabolites in urine and breast cancer risk: a case-control study in Tunisia.
abstract: Zearalenone (ZON) is a non-steroidal estrogenic mycotoxin produced by Fusarium species. The exposure risk to humans and animals is the consumption of contaminated food and animal feeds. It has been reported that ZON and some of its metabolites promote the development of hormone-dependent tumors. The aim of this case-control study was to estimate exposure to ZON and its five metabolites (α-zearalenol [α-ZOL], β-zearalenol [β-ZOL], α-zearalanol [zeranol, α-ZAL], β-zearalanol [teranol, β-ZAL] and zearalanone [ZAN]) by measuring urinary concentrations of these compounds, and to evaluate the risk of breast cancer related to this exposure. Chemical analyses were carried out by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (UHPLC-MS/MS). Statistical analyses were performed in order to determine the association between exposure to these compounds and the development of breast cancer. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by unconditional logistic regression to estimate the magnitude of the associations. The obtained results (adjusted OR=1.54, 95% CI=1.10-2.77) suggest a potential role of α-ZAL in the risk of developing breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Center of Urgent Medical Assistance of Tunis, Laboratory of Toxicology and Environment (LR12SP07), Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Belhassen
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, Granada E-18012, Spain. Electronic address: ijdiaz@ugr.es.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Díaz
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, Granada E-18012, Spain; CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), E-18071 Granada, Spain; Radiation Oncology Department. Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Arrebola
authors.affiliation: Center of Urgent Medical Assistance of Tunis, Laboratory of Toxicology and Environment (LR12SP07), Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghali
authors.affiliation: Center of Urgent Medical Assistance of Tunis, Laboratory of Toxicology and Environment (LR12SP07), Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghorbel
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, Granada E-18012, Spain; CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), E-18071 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Olea
authors.affiliation: Center of Urgent Medical Assistance of Tunis, Laboratory of Toxicology and Environment (LR12SP07), Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hedili
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D059625:Liquid-Liquid Extraction; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000652:urine*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018570:Risk Assessment; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015025:Zearalenone / Q000652:urine*
chemical_list: D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal; D009183:Mycotoxins; D015025:Zearalenone
keywords: Breast cancer; Case-control study; Human urine; Tunisian women; Zearalenone; Zearalenone metabolites