Abstract
The intensifying world-wide spread of mycotoxigenic fungal species has increased the possibility of mycotoxin contamination in animal feed and the human food chain. Growing evidence shows the deleterious toxicological effects of mycotoxins from infants to adults, while large population-based screening programs are often missing to identify affected individuals. The kidney functions as the major excretory system, which makes it particularly vulnerable to nephrotoxic injury. However, few studies have attempted to screen for kidney injury biomarkers in large, mycotoxin-exposed populations. As a result, there is an urgent need to screen them with sensitive biomarkers for potential nephrotoxicity. Although a plethora of biomarkers have been tested to estimate the harmful effects of a wide spectrum of toxicants, β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) are currently the dominant biomarkers employed routinely in environmental toxicology research. Nevertheless, kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) are also emerging as useful and informative markers to reveal mycotoxin induced nephrotoxicity. In this opinion article we consider the nephrotoxic effects of mycotoxins, the biomarkers available to detect and quantify the kidney injuries caused by them, and to recommend biomarkers to screen mycotoxin-exposed populations for renal damage.
Highlights
The kidney is a multifunctional organ, the structural and functional unit of which is the nephron
We briefly introduce some molecules as potential biomarkers to monitor the toxic effects of mycotoxins on kidney
We suggest that a novel biomarker platform incorporating at some of the available NAG, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1), Cystatin C and/or tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) assays would help in the assessment of the progression of acute kidney injury (AKI) in children [126]
Summary
The kidney is a multifunctional organ, the structural and functional unit of which is the nephron. The growing body of field “biomarker” refers to the direct measurement of th evidence on the versatile nephrotoxic effects of various fungal secondary metabolites warns us that weproduct still have a long way to go in the development and implementation of suitable down [6] This provides information on the d diagnostic and therapeutic approaches with which to screen for the deleterious effects of these compounds [1,5]. In mycotoxin research field enzymes or kidney injury biomarkers to monitor the ne “biomarker” refers to the direct measurement of the excreted mycotoxin or a breakdown product [6] This provides information on the degree of exposure, but no information on early study theeffects.
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