Assessing chronic exposure to fumonisin mycotoxins: the use of hair as a suitable noninvasive matrix.

This study describes for the first time the accumulation of measurable levels of fumonisin mycotoxins in the hair of nonhuman primates (vervet monkeys, Cercopithecus aethiops) and rats exposed to contaminated feed. Hair was subjected to reflux with methanol, and the resulting extract was cleaned up on strong anion exchange (SAX) and C18 solid-phase sorbents. Fumonisins FB1, FB2, and FB3 as well as their hydrolysis products commonly known as aminopolyols, AP1 and AP2, were detected in monkey hair using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS). Despite matrix interferences, the two-stage mass spectrometric process (MS-MS) yielded product ion mass spectra, which served as diagnostic indicators thus providing unequivocal identification of FB1, FB2, and FB3 as well as AP1 and AP2. In vervet monkeys, the levels of exposure related well to the levels of toxin detected in hair, and levels as high as 5.98 mg FB1, 33.77 mg FB1, and 65.93 mg FB1/kg of hair were found in monkeys receiving control, low-dose, and high-dose contaminated diets, respectively. Hair was also analyzed from rats given either single gavage doses of 1 and 10 mg FB1/kg body weight or contaminated feed (50 mg FB1/kg), resulting in an exposure of approximately 4.25 mg FB1/kg body weight/day based on the measured daily feed intake. Analysis of rat hair over a four-week period indicated that mean levels up to 34.50 mg/kg and 42.20 mg/kg were detectable by the fourth week in the rats treated by gavage (10 mg FB1/kg body weight) and those receiving contaminated feed, respectively. This relationship indicates that hair can provide an easily applicable non-invasive matrix for assessing chronic exposure to fumonisin mycotoxins.