Toxicology of Mycotoxins

Abstract Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxic fungal metabolites, which are structurally diverse and commonly present in animal feed and human food ingredients. This chapter briefly reviewed the toxicology of naturally occurring mycotoxins with more details on some highly studied mycotoxins, such as aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxins, and deoxynivalenol, because they are of concern to toxicologists in both experimental and regulatory settings. Aflatoxin B 1 is a human carcinogen and its presence constitutes a major economic and health problem worldwide; however, fumonisin B 1 and ochratoxin A are animal carcinogens, and their roles in human cancers are to be studied. Trichothecene toxins, especially deoxynivalenol, are predominant contaminants in grains and their immune toxic effects are well documented. The toxicological impact from these mycotoxins ranges from acute toxicity to immune suppression to cancer in experimental models; however, very few studies to date have examined the potential increased toxicological interactions from combinative exposure with multiple mycotoxins exposure. Future toxicological research should focus on studying adverse effects caused by exposure to complex mycotoxin mixtures and their interactions to impact human health outcomes.