Assessing Aflatoxin Exposure: Exploring Types of Exposure and Diverse Biomarkers – A Minireview

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) has been categorized as a Group I carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Considering its significant public health implications, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of the different routes of exposure and biomarkers of aflatoxin.

The main mechanisms by which aflatoxins cause harm to the body are oxidative stress, immune suppression, and DNA damage. More attention has recently been paid to investigating exposure through occupational and transplacental routes. Aflatoxin exposure is linked to unfavorable pregnancy outcomes, like low birth weight, according to the recent literature currently available on human studies. As aflatoxin can cause a variety of mutations and DNA damage, the AFB1-N7 guanine adduct has gained special interest in cancer research and toxicity. The most commonly used biomarker currently for determining chronic and consistent exposure to this carcinogen is aflatoxin B1-lysine serum albumin adduct in human blood samples (2–3 months). Recent research also investigates the potential for using hair analysis to study chronic exposure.

The three main routes of aflatoxin exposure are dietary, occupational, and transplacental. Biomarkers can be found in a variety of biological samples, such as blood, hair, faeces, milk, urine, and bronchalveolar lavage. Surprisingly, there is an absence of cutoff limits for aflatoxin levels in biological fluids concerning adverse health effects in humans. Given the potential carcinogenic effects and the significant public health implications of aflatoxin, prioritizing the identification of new biomarkers for evaluating chronic exposure is crucial.