Abstract:
Analysis of body fluids and tissues of aflatoxin exposed individuals for the presence of
aflatoxins and aflatoxin metabolites has emerged as a reliable indicator of exposure and metabolism
of aflatoxins. However, current aflatoxin biomarkers are not appropriate for investigating the longterm effects of aflatoxin exposure. In this explorative study, we investigated the analysis of hair
as a complementary or alternative matrix for the assessment of biomarkers of long-term aflatoxin
exposure. Three groups of guinea pigs were orally dosed with 5 ugkg−1bw−1
, 50 ugkg−1bw−1
, and
100 ugkg−1bw−1 of AFB1. Urine and hair samples were collected on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 7, 30, 60, and
90 and analysed for AFB1 and AFM1 using UHPLC-MS/MS. AFB1 and AFM1 were detected in
75% and 13.6%, respectively, of the day 1 to day 7 urine samples. AFB1 was detected in hair samples
collected from day 3 up to day 60. This is the first report to confirm the deposition of AFB1 in the
hair of experimental animals. These findings indicate that hair analysis has the potential to provide
an accurate long-term historical record of aflatoxin exposure with potentially important implications
for the field of aflatoxin biomarkers.
