Cytotoxicity assessment of Aflatoxin B1 after high voltage atmospheric cold plasma treatment

Kizito Nishimwe; Isaac Agbemafle; Manju B Reddy; Kevin Keener; Dirk E Maier

doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2021.02.008

Cytotoxicity assessment of Aflatoxin B1 after high voltage atmospheric cold plasma treatment

Toxicon. 2021 Apr 30:194:17-22. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2021.02.008. Epub 2021 Feb 19.

Authors

Kizito Nishimwe¹, Isaac Agbemafle², Manju B Reddy³, Kevin Keener⁴, Dirk E Maier⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA; School of Agriculture and Food Science, University of Rwanda, PO Box 4285, Kigali, Rwanda. Electronic address: nishimwe@iastate.edu.
² Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA; School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana.
³ Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.
⁴ School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA; Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.

PMID: 33610633
DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2021.02.008

Abstract

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a secondary metabolite produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, and is a known carcinogen in humans and animals. High voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) technology has already shown promise to decontaminate AFB1 in food and feed. This study aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity of AFB1 after HVACP treatment. AFB1 (100 μM) was treated at 85 kV with HVACP for 0, 2, 5, 10, and 20 min. HepG2 cells were exposed to HVACP-treated AFB1 for 72 h and assessed for cell viability, caspase-3 activity, DNA fragmentation, and protein carbonyls for each treatment time. Cell viability, caspase-3 activity, DNA fragmentation levels, and protein carbonyls contents of HepG2 cells exposed to HVACP-treated AFB1 after 20 min was not significantly different compared to non-exposed HepG2 cells (P > 0.05). However, their contents were significantly higher in non-exposed cells compared to the other HVACP treatment times (P < 0.01). Twenty minutes of HVACP treatment for AFB1 significantly reduced AFB1 cytotoxicity and oxidative damage and showed potential as a safe aflatoxin decontamination technology.

Keywords: Aflatoxin; Caspase-3; Cell viability; Cold plasma; DNA fragment; HepG2 cells.

MeSH terms

Aflatoxin B1 / toxicity*
Aflatoxins
Animals
Aspergillus flavus
Carcinogens
Humans
Plasma Gases*
Toxicity Tests*

Substances

Aflatoxins
Carcinogens
Plasma Gases
Aflatoxin B1