The Quantitative Analysis of Zearalenone and Its Derivatives in Plasma of Patients with Breast and Cervical Cancer
-
Dharmarai Pillay
Abstract
Zearalenone (6-[10-hydroxy-6-oxo-trans-1-undecenyl]-β-resorcylic acid-μ-lactone), a mycotoxin produced in corn, is able to adopt a conformation which sufficiently resembles 17β-oestradiol to allow it to bind to the oestrogen receptor in target cells of the body and exert (agonist) oestrogenic action. We adopted an analytical approach to isolate and quantify the mycotoxin and its derivatives using high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In this study, the quantity of zearalenone and its congeners (α-zearalenol and β-zearalenol) present in the plasma of patients with breast (n=28) and cervical carcinoma (n=54) were compared with levels in patients presenting with other diagnoses (n=26) and healthy volunteers (n=24). There were no significant differences between the groups in the levels of zearalenone and its congeners, using analysis of covariance (0.2<p<0.6). These results suggest that the presence of this mycotoxin in blood does not indicate causal relationship between exposure to this exogenous myco-oestrogen and the subsequent biological effect in our study population but may be used as an indicator of exposure. The presence of zearalenone in the study groups is, however, of growing concern, due to the possible effects of cumulative long-term exposure of oestrogenic target organs to this compound.
Copyright © 2002 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Articles in the same Issue
- Addressing Diseases in Africa
- Tuberculosis: The Struggle Continues
- Genetic Susceptibility to Tuberculosis
- Protein Expression in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Differs with Growth Stage and Strain Type
- Molecular Detection of Early Appearance of Drug Resistance during Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection
- Prevalence of Anti-mycolic Acid Antibodies in Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis Co-infected with HIV
- Reduction of the Rate of False-Positive Cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a Laboratory with a High Culture Positivity Rate
- Enhanced Immune Response in Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG)-Infected IL-10-Deficient Mice
- The ELISPOT Assay: An Easily Transferable Method for Measuring Cellular Responses and Identifying T Cell Epitopes
- Coreceptor Usage and Biological Phenotypes of HIV-1 Isolates
- Overcoming Multidrug Resistance in Taxane Chemotherapy
- Accurate Microsatellite Typing and Inter-study Comparison: Pitfalls and Solutions Using Interferon-γ (IFNG) and Natural Resistance-associated Mocrophage Protein 2 (NRAMP2) Genes as Examples
- Synergism between Urinary Prothrombin Fragment 1 and Urine: A Comparison of Inhibitory Activities in Stone-Prone and Stone-Free Population Groups
- Immunoglobulin G and Subclass Responses to Plasmodium falciparum Antigens: A Study in Highly Exposed Cameroonians
- Infrequent Somatic Deletion of the 5' Region of the COL1A2 Gene in Oesophageal Squamous Cell Cancer Patients
- The Quantitative Analysis of Zearalenone and Its Derivatives in Plasma of Patients with Breast and Cervical Cancer
- Genetic Polymorphism of Cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) and Glutathione Transferases (M1, T1 and P1) among Africans
- Meetings and Awards
Articles in the same Issue
- Addressing Diseases in Africa
- Tuberculosis: The Struggle Continues
- Genetic Susceptibility to Tuberculosis
- Protein Expression in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Differs with Growth Stage and Strain Type
- Molecular Detection of Early Appearance of Drug Resistance during Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection
- Prevalence of Anti-mycolic Acid Antibodies in Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis Co-infected with HIV
- Reduction of the Rate of False-Positive Cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a Laboratory with a High Culture Positivity Rate
- Enhanced Immune Response in Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG)-Infected IL-10-Deficient Mice
- The ELISPOT Assay: An Easily Transferable Method for Measuring Cellular Responses and Identifying T Cell Epitopes
- Coreceptor Usage and Biological Phenotypes of HIV-1 Isolates
- Overcoming Multidrug Resistance in Taxane Chemotherapy
- Accurate Microsatellite Typing and Inter-study Comparison: Pitfalls and Solutions Using Interferon-γ (IFNG) and Natural Resistance-associated Mocrophage Protein 2 (NRAMP2) Genes as Examples
- Synergism between Urinary Prothrombin Fragment 1 and Urine: A Comparison of Inhibitory Activities in Stone-Prone and Stone-Free Population Groups
- Immunoglobulin G and Subclass Responses to Plasmodium falciparum Antigens: A Study in Highly Exposed Cameroonians
- Infrequent Somatic Deletion of the 5' Region of the COL1A2 Gene in Oesophageal Squamous Cell Cancer Patients
- The Quantitative Analysis of Zearalenone and Its Derivatives in Plasma of Patients with Breast and Cervical Cancer
- Genetic Polymorphism of Cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) and Glutathione Transferases (M1, T1 and P1) among Africans
- Meetings and Awards
