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Review
. 2016 Mar 26;8(4):94.
doi: 10.3390/toxins8040094.

Natural Co-Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Foods and Feeds and Their in vitro Combined Toxicological Effects

Marie-Caroline Smith  1 , Stéphanie Madec  2 , Emmanuel Coton  3 , Nolwenn Hymery  4
Affiliations
Review

Natural Co-Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Foods and Feeds and Their in vitro Combined Toxicological Effects

Marie-Caroline Smith et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

Some foods and feeds are often contaminated by numerous mycotoxins, but most studies have focused on the occurrence and toxicology of a single mycotoxin. Regulations throughout the world do not consider the combined effects of mycotoxins. However, several surveys have reported the natural co-occurrence of mycotoxins from all over the world. Most of the published data has concerned the major mycotoxins aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEA), fumonisins (FUM) and trichothecenes (TCTs), especially deoxynivalenol (DON). Concerning cereals and derived cereal product samples, among the 127 mycotoxin combinations described in the literature, AFs+FUM, DON+ZEA, AFs+OTA, and FUM+ZEA are the most observed. However, only a few studies specified the number of co-occurring mycotoxins with the percentage of the co-contaminated samples, as well as the main combinations found. Studies of mycotoxin combination toxicity showed antagonist, additive or synergic effects depending on the tested species, cell model or mixture, and were not necessarily time- or dose-dependent. This review summarizes the findings on mycotoxins and their co-occurrence in various foods and feeds from all over the world as well as in vitro experimental data on their combined toxicity.

Keywords: co-occurrence; combined toxicological effects; foodstuffs; mycotoxins; regulations.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Data distribution depending on (a) geographic regions and (b) commodities. Data compiled from 107 articles. References: [37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,129,130,131,132,133,134,135,136,137,138,139,140,141,142,143].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Main mycotoxin mixtures quoted in the papers depending on their geographic origin. Data compiled from 107 articles. References: [37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,129,130,131,132,133,134,135,136,137,138,139,140,141,142,143].
Figure 3
Figure 3
All mycotoxin mixtures quoted in the papers depending on their geographic origin. (formula image = mixtures no cited; formula image = mixtures cited between 1 and 3 times; formula image = mixtures cited between 3 and 5 times; formula image = mixtures cited between 5 and 7 times; formula image = mixtures cited between 7 and 9 times; formula image = mixtures cited more than 9 times). Reading from left to right on the x-axis:
Figure 4
Figure 4
Distribution of cell models used depending on (a) species and (b) organs. Data are compiled from the 58 selected articles. References: [9,154,155,156,157,158,159,160,161,162,163,164,165,166,167,168,169,170,171,172,173,174,175,176,177,178,179,180,181,182,183,184,185,186,187,188,189,190,191,192,193,194,195,196,197,198,199,200,201,202,203,204,205,206,207,208,209,210].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Characterization of the interaction between mycotoxins.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Isobologram illustrating the antagonist effect of two mycotoxins for reaching x% of cell viability inhibition.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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