Hepatocarcinogenic Material in Urine Specimens From Humans Consuming Aflatoxin2

Abstract

Extracts of urine specimens collected from human subjects known to have consumed an average of 21 µg aflatoxin B₁ during a 2-day collection period were fed to rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri. The quantity of hepatocarcinogenic aflatoxin-like material in the extracts was estimated to be equivalent to that contributed by the small quantity of aflatoxin M₁ excreted. These results suggested that the major fraction of aflatoxin ingested by humans was not excreted as aflatoxins B₁, M₁, or P₁ but rather as relatively noncarcinogenic metabolites or conjugates thereof.