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Review
. 2024 Nov 28;16(12):514.
doi: 10.3390/toxins16120514.

The Role of AFB1, OTA, TCNs, and Patulin in Forensic Sciences: Applications in Autopsy, Criminal Investigations, and Public Health Prevention

Matteo Antonio Sacco  1 , Saverio Gualtieri  1 , Alessandro Pasquale Tarallo  1 , Maria Cristina Verrina  1 , Angela Carbone  1 , Wandamaria Mazzuca  1 , Santo Gratteri  1 , Isabella Aquila  1
Affiliations
Review

The Role of AFB1, OTA, TCNs, and Patulin in Forensic Sciences: Applications in Autopsy, Criminal Investigations, and Public Health Prevention

Matteo Antonio Sacco et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

Mycotoxins, specifically aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), ochratoxin A (OTA), trichothecenes (TCNs), and patulin, are a group of secondary metabolites that can contaminate food, leading to severe health implications for humans. Their detection and analysis within forensic toxicology are crucial, particularly as they can be implicated in cases of poisoning, foodborne illnesses, or lethal chronic exposure. However, little is known about the application that mycotoxins could have in forensic investigations and especially about the possibility of extracting and quantifying these molecules on tissues or post-mortem fluids collected at autopsy. We propose a review of the scientific literature on autopsy case studies in which the presence of mycotoxins on cadavers in cases of acute and chronic exposure has been investigated and identified. This review demonstrates how the analysis of mycotoxins on cadavers could be fundamental in the study of mushroom poisonings or even in the investigation of the chronic effects of mycotoxins on the human organism, by virtue of the known carcinogenic and mutagenic effects of many of them. This paper aims to explore the multifaceted role of mycotoxins within forensic sciences, focusing on their detection methods, implications in criminal contexts, and their potential as forensic evidence, thereby underscoring the critical importance they could assume in post-mortem toxicology, public health prevention, and forensic investigations.

Keywords: AFB1; OTA; autopsy; crime; forensic science; patulin; public health; trichothecenes.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects due to poisoning in case of aflatoxicosis (created with Biorender.com, accessed on 1 October 2024).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Protocol for post-mortem investigations in suspects of mycotoxin related death (created with Biorender.com, accessed on 1 October 2024).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Medico-legal applications of mycotoxins (created with Biorender.com, accessed on 13 November 2024).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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