Circulating zearalenone and its metabolites differ in women due to body mass index and food intake.
The environmental estrogen, zearalenone (ZEA), is found in the food supply from Fusarium fungal contamination in grains and sometimes used as a growth promoter for beef cattle. Long-term exposure to ZEA and its metabolites may present health risk due to higher estrogenic activity. Serum ZEA metabolites were measured to determine the exposure and the association with food intake in 48 overweight/obese women (52 ± 9 years). The free and conjugated ZEA indicated the highest detection rate of all the metabolites. Conjugated ZEA and total ZEA metabolites were lower (p = 0.02) in overweight/obese than normal weight women, and free metabolites were either the same or showed a trend to be higher. In addition, those with highest (280-480 g/d) compared those with lowest (<115 g/d) meat consumption had higher conjugated serum ZEA metabolite concentrations (p < 0.05). Intakes of other food groups (i.e., dairy, cereal, etc.) were not associated with ZEA metabolites. These findings indicate that ZEA and its metabolites are detectable in nearly all women and concentrations are associated with greater meat intake, and influenced by body mass index. Determining how the food supply influences human concentrations of ZEA metabolites is warranted, as well as determining vulnerable populations.
['Mauro|T|T|', 'Hao|L|L|', 'Pop|L C|LC|', 'Buckley|B|B|', 'Schneider|S H|SH|', 'Bandera|E V|EV|', 'Shapses|S A|SA|']
D000328:Adult D015992:Body Mass Index D002853:Chromatography, Liquid D004032:Diet D002149:Energy Intake D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal D005260:Female D005523:Food Supply D006801:Humans D057230:Limit of Detection D008461:Meat Products D008593:Menopause D008875:Middle Aged D009765:Obesity D050177:Overweight D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry D015025:Zearalenone
Zearalenone Body mass index Diet Estrogen disruptor Mycoestrogen