6533b872fe1ef96bd12d4170
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Comparison and improvement of the existing methods for the determination of aflatoxins in human serum by LC-MS/MS
Rosalia FerracaneGiuseppe MecaAntonello SantiniAlberto RitieniGiuseppe Mecasubject
Detection limitAflatoxinChromatographybiologyGeneral Chemical EngineeringGeneral Engineeringfood and beveragesAspergillus flavusContaminationbiology.organism_classificationMass spectrometryAnalytical Chemistrychemistry.chemical_compoundBlood serumchemistryLc ms msheterocyclic compoundsMycotoxindescription
Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites of some Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus and A. nomius strains that occur in many foods and feeds. Aflatoxin B1 is the most abundant and toxic member of the family, and it is also the most potent hepatocarcinogen known. In order to estimate the potential human health risk of aflatoxin B1, it is useful to measure its blood concentration. In this work a rapid liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous determination of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 and its metabolites, aflatoxins M1 and M2 in human serum, is proposed. Small serum volumes have been used and the extracts have been obtained without any clean-up procedure. The isolation of the aflatoxins from human serum was achieved using subsequent pH-controlled solvent extractions steps. Recovery rates in the range between 31 and 98% were achieved in the serum, while the limits of detection and quantification for the proposed method were 0.5 ng mL−1 and 1.0 ng mL−1, respectively. The validation of the method has been demonstrated by analysing spiked and naturally contaminated blood serum.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-01-01 | Analytical Methods |