Aflatoxin-albumin Adducts And Correlation With Decreased Serum Levels Of Vitamins A And E In An Adult Ghanaian Population

摘要

A study of aflatoxin (AF) exposure and the levels of vitamins A and E was carried out with a group of 507 Ghanaian participants. AFB_1-albumin adducts (AFB-AA) were measured by radioimmunoassay and vitamins A and E were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The average level of serum AFB-AA was 0.94±0.64 (range = 0.1-4.44) pmol mg~(-1) albumin. Mean levels of vitamins A and E were 1.32±0.48 (range = 0.41-4.85) μmoll~(-1) and 15.68 ±4.12 (range = 6.35-30.40) μmoll~(-1), respectively. A significantly negative correlation was found between serum AFB-AA and vitamin A levels (r = -0.110, p = 0.013). An even stronger, significant negative, correlation was found between serum AFB-AA and vitamin E levels (r = - 0.149, p<0.001). Serum AFB-AA levels were statistically higher (median = 0.985 pmolmg~(-1) albumin) in subjects who had low levels of both vitamins A and E as compared with the levels (median = 0.741 pmolmg~(-1) albumin) subjects who had high vitamins A and E levels (p_(trend) = 0.001). To verify these findings, blood samples were again collected from 165 of the 507 people 3 months after the initial collection. Significantly negative correlations were confirmed between levels of serum AFB-AA and both vitamins A (r = -0.232, p = 0.003) and E (r = -0.178, p = 0.023). Again, high serum AFB-AA concentrations (median = 1.578 pmolmg~(-1) albumin) were found in subjects with low levels of vitamins A and E compared with the concentrations (median = 1.381 pmolmg~(-1) albumin) in subjects with high levels of vitamins A and E (p_(trend) = 0.002). These data show that AF exposure was associated with decreased levels of serum vitamins A and E in high-risk human populations, which may significantly influence the incidence of AF-related adverse health effects.