Mycotoxin carry-over in breast milk and weight of infant in exclusively-breastfed infants

Abstract

The aim was to evaluate the levels of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEN), deoxynivalenol (DON) in human milk, and to investigate the relation between selected mycotoxin levels in breast milk and infantile growth in exclusively-breastfed infants under four months. Mycotoxin analysis was performed with commercial ELISA kits. Infants were weighed, and z scores of weight-for-age (WAZ) were calculated with WHO standards. The first quartile of the mycotoxin levels was classified in subgroups as low-level, the last quartile as high-level, and between them as middle-level. The subgroups of AFM1, OTA, and DON had similar infants’ WAZ. When cases without maternal smoke exposure were selected and WAZ at birth, infant age, and gender were adjusted, higher infant WAZ on admission was detected in high-ZEN subgroup (p = 0.033). Further cohort studies in exclusively-breastfed infants and absence of maternal smoke exposure could clarify the effect of ZEN on infant growth.

Keywords:

• Aflatoxin M1
• breastmilk
• colic
• deoxynivalenol
• growth
• ochratoxin A
• sleep
• smoke
• zearalenone

Financial support

This study was financially supported by Hacettepe University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit (project no. TTU-2017-15664).

Ethical standards

The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national guidelines and with the Helsinki Declaration and has been approved by the University of Hacettepe Medical School Institutional Review Board. Informed consent was obtained from each person after the nature of the procedure(s) had been fully explained.