Researchers demonstrate for the first time that the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol, which is sometimes found in cereals and cereal-based foods, increases the risk of inflammatory bowel disease.
- The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol that can be found in grain foods increases the risk of inflammatory bowel disease
- In rats fed with this type of contaminated product, “the induction of colitis took place during the fourth week”
- In France in 2018, 166,500 people had Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, both characterized by inflammation and ulceration of the intestinal wall due to an overactive digestive immune system, sometimes fight against certain food contaminants.
According to a team of researchers from Inrae and the Purpan engineering school, “low-dose exposure to the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol, most commonly found in grains and grain-based foods, increases the risk of inflammatory bowel disease and exacerbates symptoms”. Their work has been published in the journal Archives of Toxicology.
The potential toxicity of grain-based foods
Mycotoxins are toxins produced by fungi that can end up in a wide variety of grain-based foods such as flour, bread or pasta, researchers explain in a communicated. “Among them, deoxynivalenol (DON), produced by molds of the type Fusarium, is one of the most common food contaminants”. For the first time, the influence of deoxynivalenol on the intestine has been studied in rats.
For 4 weeks, rodents were fed food contaminated with low doses of deoxynivalenol devoid of acute toxicity: “The induction of colitis took place during the fourth week”, report the researchers. Thus, the symptoms of rats developing inflammatory bowel disease and exposed to deoxynivalenol in their diet developed faster and more intensely.
The researchers observed “an increase in weight loss, greater inflammation of the intestinal wall and a strong increase in enterobacteriaceae in the microbiota” in these rodents.
IBDs in France
“These results show that deoxynivalenol, one of the most prevalent food contaminants in cereals and cereal-based foods, is a risk factor in the development of inflammatory bowel disease.”, conclude the researchers. However, further studies are needed.to assess these effects in humans in order to formulate dietary advice for patients with IBD.”
According to the National IBD Observatory, 166,500 people had Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis in France in 2018, compared to 156,130 in 2016 and 150,480 in 2015. Fifty-six percent of patients would be men and 44% women.
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