Logo image
Back
Association between aflatoxin-albumin adduct levels and tortilla consumption in Guatemalan adults
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Association between aflatoxin-albumin adduct levels and tortilla consumption in Guatemalan adults

María F. Kroker-Lobos, Christian S. Alvarez, Alvaro Rivera-Andrade, Joshua W. Smith, Patricia Egner, Olga Torres, Mariana Lazo, Neal D. Freedman, Eliseo Guallar, Barry I. Graubard, …
Toxicology reports, v 6, pp 465-471
01 Jan 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxrep.2019.05.009
PMID: 31193789
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxrep.2019.05.009View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

AFB1 – lys, covalent adduction of aflatoxins B1 to lysine residues in serum albumin AFB1, aflatoxins B1 Aflatoxins BMI, body mass index CI, confidence intervals Consumption FFQ, food frequency questionnaire g, grams Guatemala IARC, International Agency for Research on Cancer IQR, interquartile range IRB, institutional review board Kcal, kilocalories Kg, kilograms LSM, least square means Maize mg, milligram mt, meters pg, picogram Tortilla
• AFB 1 a carcinogen found in maize, Guatemala’s main staple, the relationship of maize intake to serum AFB 1 -albumin adducts levels is novel. • Among 461 Guatemalan adults found a median maize intake of 344.3 grams per day and a median serum AFB 1 -albumin adduct level was 8.4 pg/mg albumin. • A statistically significant association between tortilla consumption and AFB 1 -albumin levels (ptrend=0.01) was found. • These findings indicate that tortilla may be an important source of AFB 1 exposure in the Guatemalan population. Aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) is a known human hepatocarcinogen and a recent study reported elevated AFB 1 levels, measured by serum albumin biomarkers, among Guatemalan adults. While AFB 1 can contaminate a variety of foodstuffs, including maize, Guatemala’s main dietary staple, the relationship of maize intake to serum AFB 1 -albumin adducts levels in Guatemala has not been previously examined. As a result, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 461 Guatemalan adults living in five geographically distinct departments of the country. Participants provided a serum sample and completed a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to estimate the least square means (LSQ) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of log-transformed AFB 1 -albumin adducts by quintiles of maize consumption in crude and adjusted models. Additionally, analyses of tortilla consumption and levels of maize processing were conducted. The median maize intake was 344.3 g per day [Interquartile Range (IQR): 252.2, 500.8], and the median serum AFB 1 -albumin adduct level was 8.4 pg/mg albumin (IQR: 3.8, 22.3). In adjusted analyses, there was no association between overall maize consumption and serum AFB 1 -albumin levels. However, there was a statistically significant association between tortilla consumption and AFB 1 -albumin levels (p trend  = 0.01). The LSM of AFB 1 -albumin was higher in the highest quintile of tortilla consumption compared to the lowest quintile [LSM:9.03 95%CI: 7.03,11.70 vs 6.23, 95%CI: 4.95,8.17, respectively]. These findings indicate that tortilla may be an important source of AFB 1 exposure in the Guatemalan population. Therefore, efforts to control or mitigate AFB 1 levels in contaminated maize used for tortillas may reduce overall exposure in this population.

Metrics

12 Record Views
25 citations in Web of Science
23 citations in Scopus

Details

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Toxicology
Logo image