DAN - Teses de doutoramento
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Browsing DAN - Teses de doutoramento by advisor "Alvito, Paula"
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- Children exposure to multiple mycotoxins through food consumption: a holistic approach for risk assessmentPublication . Assunção, Ricardo; Alvito, Paula; Vasco, Elsa; Duarte, ElsaFood ingestion is considered a major route of human exposure to chemical contaminants, namely mycotoxins. Considering their toxic and carcinogenic effects, mycotoxins exposure assessment assumes particular importance, especially when vulnerable populations as children, are involved. Although there are increasing evidences of mycotoxins co-contamination in food, scarce data are available concerning children exposure to multiple mycotoxins, their bioaccessibility and the potential toxic effects resulting from intestinal exposure. Addressing these considerations, this thesis main objectives were: to characterize Portuguese children (under 3 years old) exposure to multiple mycotoxins through food consumption; to determine mycotoxins bioaccessibility in foods usually consumed by children; to evaluate intestinal toxic effects associated to mycotoxins exposure; and, to characterize the risk associated to the consumption of foods, considering data from exposure assessment, bioaccessibility and intestinal toxicity assays. The present thesis applied for the first time a holistic approach, gathering results obtained through different first-line methodologies, comprising probabilistic tools to estimate mycotoxins daily intake and in vitro assays to determine bioaccessibility and toxic effects. Results revealed a potential health concern for aflatoxins exposure with regard to the high percentiles of children intake. For the first time, a potential synergism was described relatively to the combined intestinal toxic effects of patulin and ochratoxin A, two known enterotoxins. The obtained results reinforce the importance to use a holistic approach to multiple mycotoxins risk assessment, especially for vulnerable populations as children. Particular attention should be dedicated to evaluate the consequences of intestinal exposure to mycotoxins, in particular to their impact on the development of intestinal diseases.
- Exposure of Portuguese population to mycotoxins: the human biomonitoring approachPublication . Martins, Carla Teles; Nunes, Carla; Alvito, PaulaIntroduction: Mycotoxins are food contaminants with several health outcomes such as carcinogenic, estrogenic, immunotoxic, nephrotoxic and teratogenic effects. The present Thesis aimed to assess the exposure of the Portuguese population to mycotoxins through a human biomonitoring approach. Materials and Methods: Under the scope of the National Food, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Survey of the Portuguese General Population (2015-2016), 94 participants provided urine samples for the determination of 42 mycotoxins’ urinary biomarkers. Probable daily intake, hazard quotient and the associated burden of disease were estimated. Through a modelling approach, the exposure to zearalenone, alternariol and deoxynivalenol was estimated for a representative sample of the Portuguese population (n=5811). Results and Discussion: Results revealed the exposure of Portuguese population to aflatoxins, zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, alternariol, citrinin and fumonisin B1. Risk characterization showed a potential concern since the reference intake values were exceeded by some of the participants. The exposure to aflatoxins was estimated to correspond to 172.8 Disability-Adjusted Life Years for the Portuguese population. Conclusions: The obtained data confirmed mycotoxins as part of the human exposome of the Portuguese population. Through the application of modelling tools, evidence based data was generated and it can be concluded that exposure may represent a concern for some population groups. These data are crucial to perform a more realistic risk assessment, contributing to more effective preventive measures for health protection of the Portuguese population.