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. 2024 Mar 27:17:1171-1184.
doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S453839. eCollection 2024.

Correlations of Aflatoxin Exposure from Cooking Oil and Dietary Foods During Pregnancy with Birth Weight and Gestational Age at Birth in Guangxi, China

Yanxu Zhong  1   2 , Huan Lu  3 , Xiaodan Lu  4 , Zhini He  4 , Yuyan Jiang  1 , Jie Chen  1 , Tippawan Liabsuetrakul  2
Affiliations

Correlations of Aflatoxin Exposure from Cooking Oil and Dietary Foods During Pregnancy with Birth Weight and Gestational Age at Birth in Guangxi, China

Yanxu Zhong et al. Int J Gen Med. .

Abstract

Background: Cooking oil and dietary foods are easily contaminated by aflatoxins (AFs) in Guangxi, China where low birth weight and preterm birth were prevalent. However, there are no data on AF exposure in pregnant women or their impact on newborn birth outcomes. This study aims to measure the levels and correlations of AFs in cooking oil, estimated dietary intake (EDI) of AFs in dietary foods, and serum AFB1 albumin adducts (AFB1-alb) with newborn birthweight and gestational age at birth.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted among 126 pregnant women in Guangxi, China. All recruited women were interviewed for demographic data and behavior and obstetric information and then followed up until giving birth. AF measurements were obtained from cooking oil, dietary foods, maternal serum, and cord blood and the correlations of AF levels with newborn birthweight and gestational age at birth were tested using correlation analysis.

Results: The median EDI of AFs in cooking oil was 2.61 ng/kg.bw/day and in dietary foods 2.95 ng/kg.bw/day. High positive correlations among EDI of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) from cooking oil and dietary foods were found (r > 0.7). Low positive correlations of AFB1-alb in maternal serum and cord blood and both EDI of AFB1 in both cooking oil and dietary foods were shown (r ≈0.3). Significant correlations between AF levels in both cooking oil and dietary foods with birth weight were found, but very low negative correlations (r = - 0.244 ~ -0.285). AFB1 levels in foods, maternal serum and cord blood levels were high in pregnant women with newborn low birth weight and preterm birth.

Conclusion: The EDIs of AFB1 from both cooking oil and dietary foods were significantly correlated with AFB1-alb in maternal serum and cord blood. Negative correlations of AFs from cooking oils and foods with newborn birth weight should be paid more attention.

Keywords: AFB1 albumin adducts; EDI; aflatoxins; birthweight; gestational age at birth.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced this paper, and all of them have agreed to submit the manuscript to this journal.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Correlations between the levels of AFB1 and AFT from oils, dietary foods and birth weight and birth GA.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The AFB1-alb levels in maternal serum and cord blood in relation to (A) LBW and (B) NBW.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The AFB1-alb level in maternal serum and cord blood categorized in (A) PB and (B) NPB.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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