Zearalenone, deoxynivalenol and aflatoxin B1 and their metabolites in pig urine as biomarkers for mycotoxin exposure.

Methods to determine zearalenone (ZEA), deoxynivalenol (DON), aflatoxins (AF) and their metabolites in pig urine were developed as biomarkers for pig exposure to the mycotoxins in feed. Urine samples were incubated with β-glucuronidase to cleave conjugates, extracted and cleaned-up with solid phase and immunoaffinity columns, followed by HPLC with UV and fluorescence detection. Good recoveries (83-130%), low variation (2-10%), and low detection limits (0.3-9.9 ng/ml) were obtained. The results of controlled AFB1 feeding trials found no difference in urine concentrations of AFB1 or AFM1 from pigs fed three different levels (127, 227, 327 µg/kg) of AFB1 in diets. The excretion of AFB1 and AFM1 in urine was on average 30% of the oral dose and the ratio AFB1 to AFM1 was around 23%. The analysis of 15 Vietnamese pig urine samples indicate a relatively high exposure of ZEA, DON and AF, which were found as toxin or metabolites in 47, 73, and 80% of the urine samples, respectively.