REASEARCH PROJECT 2: Mycotoxin Biomarkers and Children's Health in Africa (Wild)

撒哈拉以南非洲的儿童发病率和死亡率很高，#年每年约有450万人死亡 5岁儿童，每1000名活产儿中有175人死亡，而工业化国家每1000人中有6人死亡 国家。儿童死亡和发病率的大部分是由于传染病，特别是腹泻， 肺炎和疟疾。这些问题与贫穷有关，包括质量不足和质量差。 食物造成了营养不良的高度流行。事实上，营养不足和增长一直步履蹒跚 被确认为约50%与儿童传染病有关的死亡的根本原因 在这个地区。在我们之前的工作中，我们发现黄曲霉毒素生物标志物水平和 西非儿童发育迟缓；此外，有证据表明个人的免疫力发生了变化 生物标记物水平很高。因此，饮食中暴露于这种霉菌毒素可能会产生重大影响。 儿童发病率和死亡率。这个项目的第一个目标是描述 在生命早期(出生前和出生后)暴露真菌毒素对生长发育和健康结果的影响。我们将测试 黄曲霉毒素暴露的生物标记物与肠道通透性之间的关系作为是否 黄曲霉毒素可能通过这种机制影响生长。玉米是超过50%的人的主要主食 在西非的人口中，经常被黄曲霉毒素和另一类真菌毒素共同污染， 伏马尼辛。因此，第二个项目目标是验证伏马菌素暴露生物标记物，以允许 评价黄曲霉毒素和伏马菌素对儿童生长发育的联合作用。最后，我们将进行采后 玉米低技术干预效果评价研究 减少人类对这些环境毒素的暴露，包括通过以玉米为基础的断奶食品 对幼儿的霉菌毒素负担有很大影响。总体而言，这些研究将合作联系起来 在项目1中进行生物标记物研究，为靶向化学预防的应用奠定基础 项目4中描述的战略。

Child morbidity and mortality is high in sub-Saharan Africa with some 4.5 million deaths annually among children aged <5 years and 175 deaths per 1000 live births compared to 6 deaths per 1000 in industrialized nations. The majority of the childhood mortality and morbidity is due to infectious diseases, notably diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria. These problems are associated with poverty, including insufficient and poor quality food resulting in a high prevalence of malnutrition. Indeed under-nutrition and growth faltering has been identified as an underlying cause of around 50% of the deaths associated with infectious diseases in children in this region. In our previous work we found a strong association between aflatoxin biomarker levels and growth faltering in West African children; in addition, there was evidence of altered immunity in individuals with high biomarker levels. Dietary exposure to this mycotoxin may therefore make a significant contribution to childhood morbidity and mortality. The first goal of this project is to characterize the contribution of mycotoxin exposure early in life (pre- and post-natal) to growth faltering and health outcomes. We will test for an association between biomarkers of aflatoxin exposure and intestinal permeability as a first test of whether aflatoxin may affect growth via this mechanism. Maize is the main dietary staple for over 50% of the population in West Africa and is frequently co-contaminated with aflatoxins and another class of mycotoxins, the fumonisins. A second project goal is therefore to validate fumonisin exposure biomarkers to permit an evaluation of the combined effects of aflatoxins and fumonisins on child growth. Finally we will conduct postharvest intervention studies on maize using low technology approaches to assess their effectiveness in reducing human exposure to these environmental toxins, including via maize-based weaning foods that contribute much to the mycotoxin burden in young children. Collectively these studies will collaboratively link with biomarker research in Project 1 and lay the groundwork for application of targeted chemoprevention strategies described in Project 4.