Mycotoxin Detection in Dried Blood

Development and Validation of Methods for Detection of Mycotoxins Exposure in Dried Spotted Blood Samples (DBS)

University of Georgia Graduate student Amanda Seawright works in the lab.

This diagram shows the procedure for analyzing dried blood samples.

Q&A with Jia-Sheng Wang

Dried blood samples were prepared from rats treated with single or repeat-dose of AFB1 and from people whose blood was spiked with known levels of AFB-Lys adduct, as well as serum samples from Kenya and Uganda for validation studies. Photo courtesy of Emily Urban.

The goal of this project is to establish and validate methods for measuring major mycotoxin biomarkers, especially for aflatoxin-lysine adduct, in human dried blood spot (DBS) samples for supporting urgent needs of nutrition impact and intervention studies conducted in Asia and Africa countries by PMIL, as well as the Nutrition Innovation Laboratory at Tufts University.

The methods are being validated and applied to assess susceptibility factors in determination of human aflatoxicosis, to evaluate the linkage between aflatoxin exposure and human nutrition deficiency and growth retardation and developmental inhibition in children.