Aflatoxin poisoning

Aflatoxin is a fungal toxin that is very harmful to our kidneys and liver, and it is also highly carcinogenic. Not many people know about aflatoxin poisoning, and they don’t know what symptoms aflatoxin poisoning will have. Symptoms of aflatoxin poisoning include vomiting, anorexia, and in severe cases, gastrointestinal bleeding.

Have you all seen the phenomenon of aflatoxin poisoning? Now some food safety issues are constantly being exposed. Aflatoxin is often present in the food we eat. Such viruses can cause great harm to our bodies, especially to the liver.

1 Toxicology

It is mainly produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Its basic structure contains difuran ring and dicoumarin. According to its microstructure, it can be divided into B1, B2, G1, G2, M1, M2 and other types. B1 and B2 are blue under ultraviolet light, and G1 and G2 are green fluorescence. Among them, aflatoxin B1 is the most toxic and has strong carcinogenicity. Aflatoxin mainly damages the liver, manifested by swelling of hepatocyte nuclei, fatty degeneration, hemorrhage, necrosis, and hyperplasia of bile duct epithelium and fibrous tissue. At the same time, the kidneys may also be damaged, mainly manifested by degeneration and necrosis of the renal tubular epithelial cells and cast formation.

2 Hazards

Aflatoxins are molecular mycotoxins. my country has set the allowable amount of aflatoxin in rice and cooking oil at 10ug/Kg, and in other grains, beans and fermented foods at 5ug/Kg. Infant milk substitutes must not be detected. The World Health Organization recommends that the maximum allowable amount of aflatoxin in food and feed is 15 ng/kg. 30-50ua/kg is low toxicity, 50-100ug/kg is moderately toxic, 100-1000ug/kg is highly toxic, and above 1000ug/kg is extremely toxic. Its toxicity is 10 times that of potassium cyanide and 68 times that of arsenic. In addition, aflatoxin is highly carcinogenic.

3 Clinical manifestations

Early symptoms include stomach discomfort, abdominal distension, anorexia, vomiting, hyperactive bowel sounds, transient fever and jaundice. After 2 to 3 weeks, ascites, lower limb edema, enlarged and hardened spleen, gastrointestinal bleeding, coma and even death will appear.

diagnosis

1. Have a history of eating food suspected to be contaminated with Aspergillus flavus.

2. Clinical characteristics ① Long incubation period. ②Symptoms of poisoning: stomach discomfort, abdominal distension, anorexia, vomiting, hyperactive bowel sounds, transient fever and jaundice, etc.

3. Laboratory examination: Use enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), thin layer chromatography or high performance liquid chromatography to detect aflatoxin in suspected food and patient blood and urine samples.

4. It can occur in all seasons, but it often occurs after the harvest season when it is rainy and cloudy.

5. Children are more susceptible to aflatoxin poisoning. According to historical data analysis, the most dangerous age for poisoning is 1 to 3 years old.

6. The prodromal symptoms of poisoning include fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, loss of appetite, etc.

7.2 to 3 weeks later, symptoms of toxic liver disease may occur: enlarged liver, pain in the liver area, jaundice, and splenomegaly. Ascites, lower limb edema and abnormal liver function.

8. There may be heart enlargement, pulmonary edema, and even convulsions and coma. Most patients may have massive gastrointestinal bleeding before death.

9. Clinical toxicity studies on experimental animals have shown that when animals are fed feed containing aflatoxin, they will show symptoms such as gradual loss of appetite, thirst, bloody stools, slow growth, weight loss, skin bleeding, excessive excitement, jaundice, convulsions, opisthotonos, etc. Pathological anatomy showed diffuse congestion, hemorrhage and necrosis of the liver.

4 First aid treatment

1. Protect the liver.

2. Symptomatic supportive treatment.

3. Immediately stop consuming food contaminated with aflatoxin.

4. Supportive therapies such as fluid replacement, diuresis, and liver protection.

5. Severely ill patients should be treated as those with toxic hepatitis.

If aflatoxin poisoning occurs, scientific measures must be taken in a timely manner. There are already many foods contaminated with aflatoxin. You must stop eating these foods immediately and take treatment measures in a timely manner. If the situation is serious, it will pose a certain threat to our life safety.