Sphinganine/Sphingosine ratio in plasma and urine as a possible biomarker for fumonisin exposure in humans in rural areas of Africa

This study was conducted in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa and in the Bomet district, western Kenya. The sphinganine (Sa)/sphingosine (So) ratios in the plasma and urine of male and female volunteers consuming a staple diet of home-grown maize in Tra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food and chemical toxicology 1999-12, Vol.37 (12), p.1153-1158
Main Authors: van der Westhuizen, L, Brown, N.L, Marasas, W.F.O, Swanevelder, S, Shephard, G.S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
amino alcohols
Biological and medical sciences
Biomarkers - blood
Biomarkers - urine
blood plasma
Carboxylic Acids - toxicity
corn
Diet
environmental exposure
Female
food contamination
fumonisin
Fumonisins
Fusarium
Humans
indicators
ingestion
Kenya
maize
Male
Medical sciences
microbial contamination
Plant poisons toxicology
ratios
Rural Population
South Africa
Spectrometry, Fluorescence
sphinganine
sphingosine
Sphingosine - analogs & derivatives
Sphingosine - blood
Sphingosine - metabolism
Sphingosine - urine
Toxicology
Transkei
Tropical medicine
urine
Zea mays - chemistry
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Summary:This study was conducted in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa and in the Bomet district, western Kenya. The sphinganine (Sa)/sphingosine (So) ratios in the plasma and urine of male and female volunteers consuming a staple diet of home-grown maize in Transkei, were 0.34±0.36 (mean±standard deviation) (n=154) and 0.41±0.72 (n=153), respectively and in plasma samples from KwaZulu-Natal it was 0.44±0.23 (n=26). In Kenya, the ratios in plasma and urine were 0.28±0.07 (n=29) and 0.34±0.20 (n=27), respectively. Mean total fumonisin level in home-grown maize, randomly collected in Transkei from the same region where the human volunteers lived, was 580 ng/g (n=40), as compared to the KwaZulu-Natal province, where no fumonisin (n=17) were detected (0.05). It is possible that the ratio is not sensitive enough to act as a biomarker for fumonisin exposure in humans at these levels of contamination in maize. This is the first report on Sa/So ratios determined in rural populations in Africa consuming home-grown maize as their staple diet.
ISSN:0278-6915
1873-6351
DOI:10.1016/S0278-6915(99)00113-1