Efficacy of royal jelly against the oxidative stress of fumonisin in rats.

Fumonisins (FB) are mycotoxins produced by Fusarium verticillioides, frequently associated with corn. It produces toxicity, including teratogenicity, equine leukoencephalomalacia, porcine pulmonary edema, hepatic or renal damage in most animal species and perturb sphingolipid metabolism. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the protective effects of royal jelly (RJ) against FB toxicity. Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into six treatment groups including the control group; group fed FB-contaminated diet (200mg/kg diet) and the groups treated orally with RJ (100 or 150mg/kg body weight) with or without FB for 3 weeks. FB alone decreased body weight gain, feed intake, GPX and SOD. Whereas it increased in ALT, AST, triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, createnine and uric acid levels. Animals received FB showed severe histological and histochemical changes in liver and kidney tissues. Cotreatment with FB plus RJ resulted in a significant improvement in all the tested parameters and the histological and histochemical pictures of the liver and kidney. These improvements were pronounced in animals fed FB-contaminated diet plus the high dose of RJ. It could be concluded that RJ have a protective effects against FB toxicity and this protection was dose dependent.

Determinants of aflatoxin M1 in breast milk in a selected group of Egyptian mothers.

In Egypt, there is a paucity of biomarker data on aflatoxin (AF) exposure. The study assessed the level and frequency of breast milk AFM1 as a biomarker of maternal exposure. Breast milk samples were collected from a selected group of 388 Egyptian lactating mothers of children attending the New El-Qalyub Hospital, Qalyubiyah governorate, Egypt, during May-September 2003. Following aflatoxin extraction, AFM1 levels were assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. Approximately 36% of mothers tested positive for AFM1 (median 13.5 pg ml-1, interquartile range (IQR) 10.27-21.43). Non-working status (p = 0.018, odds ratio (OR) = 2.87), obesity (p = 0.004, OR = 3.01), high corn oil consumption (p = 0.002, OR = 2.21), number of children (>1) (p = 0.025, OR = 1.99), and early lactation stage (<1 month) (p = 0.028 OR = 3.57), contributed to the occurrence of AF in breast milk. AFM1 contamination of breast milk was frequent, albeit at moderate levels. Growth and development of the infant is rapid and thus it is possible that AF exposure through breast milk has a significant health effect.