INTRODUCTION: Medicinal plants are extensively utilized as dietary supplements to encourage disease prevention and to support the treatment of various health disorders. Unfortunately, several plants are known for mycotoxin contamination, which may overwhelm any beneficial effects the plants might have. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to determine the presence of ochratoxin A (OTA) and citrinin (CIT) in medicinal herbal products (MHP). METHODS: Sixty samples of different MHP types were purchased on the Czech market during 2020-2021. Both mycotoxins were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector with immunoaffinity columns employed as a pretreatment. RESULTS: In total, 40% and 27% of samples were above the limit of quantification with the concentrations ranging up to 826.62 ng/g and 472.79 ng/g for OTA and CIT, respectively. The co-occurrence was confirmed in six MHP types. CONCLUSIONS: MHP could be a significant source of OTA and CIT. To protect the health of MHP users, it is desirable to continue monitoring the presence of mycotoxins in MHP. During this study, new OTA regulations for herbs came into force in the EU.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

This review updates the current status of activities related to hazard characterisation for mycotoxins, with special reference to regulatory work accomplished within the European Union. Because the relevant information on these topics is widely scattered in the scientific literature, this review intends to provide a condensed overview on the most pertinent aspects. Human health risk assessment is a procedure to estimate the nature and potential for harmful effects of mycotoxins on human health due to exposure to them via contaminated food. This assessment involves hazard identification, hazard characterisation, exposure assessment, and risk characterisation. Mycotoxins covered in this review are aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, cyclopiazonic acid, citrinin, trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, T-2, and HT-2 toxins), fumonisins, zearalenone, patulin, and ergot alkaloids. For mycotoxins with clear genotoxic/carcinogenic properties, the focus is on the margin of exposure approach. One of its goals is to document predictive characterisation of the human hazard, based on studies in animals using conditions of low exposure. For the other, non-genotoxic toxins, individual 'no adverse effect levels' have been established, but structural analogues or modified forms may still complicate assessment. During the process of hazard characterisation, each identified effect is assessed for human relevance. The estimation of a 'safe dose' is the hazard characterisation endpoint. The final aim of all of these activities is to establish a system, which is able to minimise and control the risk for the consumer from mycotoxins in food. Ongoing research on mycotoxins constantly comes up with new findings, which may have to be implemented into this system.

• Keywords
• Food, Hazard characterisation, Health risk assessment, Mycotoxins, Total diet study,
• MeSH
• Aflatoxins * analysis   MeSH
• Fumonisins * analysis   MeSH
• Food Contamination analysis   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Mycotoxins * analysis   MeSH
• Ergot Alkaloids * MeSH
• Patulin * analysis   MeSH
• Zearalenone * analysis   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Aflatoxins * MeSH
• Fumonisins * MeSH
• Mycotoxins * MeSH
• Ergot Alkaloids * MeSH
• Patulin * MeSH
• Zearalenone * MeSH

The Czech Republic occupies the first place in the world in the frequency of renal and other urinary tract tumours, but their aetiology is unknown. To explore whether carcinogenic and nephrotoxic mycotoxins may contribute to kidney diseases in the Czech population, biomarkers of ochratoxin A (OTA) and citrinin (CIT) exposure were determined in biological specimens from a cohort of 50 patients with malignant renal tumours. Biomarker analyses in blood and urine samples used validated targeted methods for measuring OTA and CIT plus dihydrocitrinone (DH-CIT) after enrichment of analytes by specific immunoaffinity clean-up. OTA and CIT plus its metabolite DH-CIT were frequently detected in patient urine samples (OTA 62%; CIT 91%; DH-CIT 100%). The concentration ranges in urine were 1-27.8 ng/L for OTA, 2-87 ng/L for CIT and 2-160 ng/L for DH-CIT. The analyses of blood samples revealed also a frequent co-occurrence of OTA and CIT, in the ranges of 40-870 ng/L serum for OTA and 21-182 ng/L plasma for CIT. This first analysis of biomarkers in blood and urine samples of Czech patients revealed no major differences in comparison with published data for the general healthy Czech and European populations. Nonetheless, a frequent co-occurrence of CIT and OTA biomarkers in patient samples may be of interest with regard to potential interactions with other risk factors for renal disease.

• Keywords
• Biomarkers, Citrinin, Dihydrocitrinone, Ochratoxin A, Renal carcinogenicity,
• MeSH
• Biomarkers blood   urine   MeSH
• Chromatography, Liquid MeSH
• Citrinin blood   urine   MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Cohort Studies MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Mycotoxins blood   urine   MeSH
• Kidney Neoplasms chemistry   urine   MeSH
• Ochratoxins blood   urine   MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Tandem Mass Spectrometry MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Czechoslovakia MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Biomarkers MeSH
• Citrinin MeSH
• Mycotoxins MeSH
• ochratoxin A MeSH Browser
• Ochratoxins MeSH

Humans are constantly exposed to mycotoxins (e.g. aflatoxins, ochratoxins), mainly via food intake of plant and animal origin. The health risks stemming from mycotoxins may result from their toxicity, in particular their carcinogenicity. In order to prevent these risks, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon (France)-through its IARC Monographs programme-has performed the carcinogenic hazard assessment of some mycotoxins in humans, on the basis of epidemiological data, studies of cancer in experimental animals and mechanistic studies. The present article summarizes the carcinogenic hazard assessments of those mycotoxins, especially aflatoxins (aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2 and M1), fumonisins (fumonisin B1 and B2) and ochratoxin A (OTA). New information regarding the genotoxicity of OTA (formation of OTA-DNA adducts), the role of OTA in oxidative stress and the identification of epigenetic factors involved in OTA carcinogenesis-should they indeed provide strong evidence that OTA carcinogenicity is mediated by a mechanism that also operates in humans-could lead to the reclassification of OTA.

• Keywords
• Aflatoxins, Carcinogenicity, Fumonisins, IARC, Mycotoxins, Ochratoxin A,
• MeSH
• Aflatoxins metabolism   MeSH
• Fumonisins metabolism   MeSH
• Carcinogens metabolism   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Disease Models, Animal MeSH
• Mutagens metabolism   MeSH
• Neoplasms chemically induced   epidemiology   MeSH
• Ochratoxins metabolism   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• France MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Aflatoxins MeSH
• Fumonisins MeSH
• Carcinogens MeSH
• Mutagens MeSH
• ochratoxin A MeSH Browser
• Ochratoxins MeSH