Mycotoxin Metabolites

Dear Colleagues,

Mycotoxins, one of the most versatile and inevitable naturally occurring toxins of fungal origin, pose a great hazard to human and animal health. After the fungi produce them, they are prone to metabolism by all species involved in the process. The fungi itself can start modifying the toxins, so they would protect themselves from its effect. The plants, that are usually the first hosts, are trying to compartmentalize them, bind them mainly to sugars, so they would have a less harmful effect on their cells. Once bound to the sugars, the plants can also create sulfates and fatty acid derivatives. When the mycotoxins enter animal cells, there the metabolism is even more complex. The metabolism of the mycotoxin is highly dependent on its chemical structure. Some, such as as deoxynivalenol, can undergo glucuronidation and urinary excretion; in others, such as aflatoxins, the metabolism is just activating them into their full genotoxic potential by epoxidation, and then later the toxic potential is reduced by the second phase of metabolic reactions. All of those reactions are of course, highly species and sex-dependent, and can be affected by co-ingested food, and a whole range of environmental factors. In the end, we are exposed not only to native mycotoxins but also to the mycotoxin metabolites that can also pose hidden (masked) threats to us. A typical example is a deoxynivalenol: when excreted by fungi on plant cells, the plant usually binds it to glucose, then after digestion by animals the gut microbiota can hydrolyse the glucose, leaving the host with a native mycotoxin. For the most precise individual exposure and risk assessment, the mycotoxin metabolites are measured in different biological fluids or tissues as biomarkers. Ever-increasing knowledge on mycotoxin metabolism is necessary to be able to predict the exact toxic pathways of certain mycotoxins, to be able to evaluate the risk for the consumers and to ensure the minimal adverse effect of this unavoidable natural contaminant. Therefore, this Special Issue will cover all topics related to the metabolism of mycotoxins – from fungal over the plants to animals, their occurrence, adsorption, distribution, metabolism, and toxicity. Biomarkers as mycotoxin metabolites of special interest to masked or modified mycotoxins is a new, currently unregulated issue.

Dr. Bojan Šarkanj
Guest Editor

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