ELKH-MATE Mycotoxins in the Food Chain Research Group

Last modified: 11. April 2024

Building upon the broad and modern methodological bases of two campuses (the Kaposvár Campus and the Szent István Campus) of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), the research group conducts interdisciplinary, primarily exploratory research to expand the knowledge existing on the effects of mycotoxins contaminating the food chain and to strengthen the scientific foundations of mycotoxin risk assessment. In several fields, the group aims to implement gap-filling research projects having a novel approach.

The studies surveying the fumonisin B1 (FB1) exposure of the human population in different regions of Hungary are unparalleled in Europe. The survey was based on questionnaires serving for determining the consumption habits, determination of the FB1 contamination of foods and raw materials posing a risk of mycotoxin exposure, and measurement of the FB1 concentration in human urine samples. The interactions between Fusarium toxins most commonly occurring in Hungary are also studied in vitro and by animal experiments (in rats, rabbits and pigs). The researchers also wish to survey the changes caused by certain mycotoxins in the quantity, activity and gene expression of elements of the glutathione system and the changes occurring in the gene expression of certain transcription factors influencing the former, depending on the duration of exposure and the extent of mycotoxin load. They plan to study markers that indicate oxidative stress already at a subtoxic load. Their studies aim to answer the question whether the oxidative stress brought about by mycotoxins is due to mycotoxin-induced oxygen free radical formation or to a dysfunction of the antioxidant system. The studies cover the fatty acid profile of membrane lipids, the analysis of membrane Na/K ATPase, the endogenous antioxidants, the end-products of oxidation and the flow cytometric study of apoptosis. Based on preliminary measurements, in the framework of a pilot study they detect the renotoxic and hepatotoxic activity of mycotoxins by positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET-MR) using glucose tracer. The effect of certain mycotoxins on the composition of the intestinal ecosystem and the mycotoxin-metabolising activity of the intestinal microbiota in different animal species are also studied.

Practical utilisation of the research findings obtained by the group can be expected in risk assessment, in determining the tolerable limits of toxic food chain contaminants and also in animal health, when determining the quality indices of feeds.