Etiological role of Alternaria alternata in human esophageal cancer.

In this paper, the mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), alternariol (AOH), and their relevance to the etiology of human esophageal cancer were studied. These mycotoxins were produced by Alternaria alternata which was the main contaminating fungi isolated from the grain in Linxian County, an area with high incidence of esophageal cancer. This study demonstrated that: 1. AME and AOH might cause cell mutagenicity and transformation; 2. AME and AOH could combine with the DNA isolated from human fetal esophageal epithelium, activate the oncogens, c-H-ras and c-mys in it, and promote proliferation of human fetal esophageal epithelium in vitro; 3. squamous cell carcinoma of the fetal esophagus could be induced by AOH. According to the results of the studies of AME and AOH mentioned above, we consider that Alternaria alternata plays an important role in the etiology of human esophageal cancer.