Effects of Individual and Combined Toxicity of Ochratoxin A, Acrylamide on Oxidative Stress in Human Proximal Tubule HK‐2 Cells

Abstract

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by fungi species, such as Aspergillus and Penicillium. Since OTA can take place in various human foodstuffs such as cereals, wine, coffee, nuts, and dairy products, people are commonly exposed to OTA in everyday life. Acrylamide (AA) has been applied in many industries and laboratories and is commonly found in carbohydrate‐rich food heated at high temperatures. AA is a potential carcinogen that has attracted a great deal of attention recently. Heat treatment of food contaminated with OTA can lead to the production of AA. OTA and AA are known to cause oxidative stress and are also likely to cause carcinogenesis. Therefore, it can be assumed that the interaction between OTA and AA may exist. To understand the combinatorial toxicity of OTA and AA, HK‐2 cells were exposed to OTA and AA alone or combination. Mono‐exposure and co‐exposure treatments were established to determine individual and binary combined toxicity on oxidative stress. Factorial analyses were performed to determine interactions between OTA and AA. When OTA and AA alone were exposed to a slight concentration of toxicity, oxidative stress was not induced in HK‐2 cells. However, exposure to the combination of OTA and AA increased biomarkers of oxidative stress and mRNA expression of enzymes associated xenobiotic mechanism. The findings of an interaction between OTA and AA might have an impact on the potential human health threat of this mixture.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.