Researchers from the University of Toulouse, France have demonstrated through in vitro and in vivo results that the intestinal DNA damage induced by colibactin-producing Escherichia coli strains was exacerbated by the presence of the mycotoxin Deoxynivalenol (DON) in the diet. This finding raises questions about the synergism between food contaminants and gut microbiota with regard to intestinal carcinogenesis. The research is published this week in mBio, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
An increasing number of human beings from developed countries are colonized by E. coli strains producing colibactin, a genotoxin suspected to be associated with the development of colorectal cancers. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is the most prevalent mycotoxin that contaminates staple food - especially cereal products - in Europe and North America.
Article: The Food Contaminant Deoxynivalenol Exacerbates the Genotoxicity of Gut Microbiota, Delphine Payros, Ulrich Dobrindt, Patricia Martin, Thomas Secher, Ana Paula F. L. Bracarense, Michèle Boury, Joelle Laffitte, Philippe Pinton, Eric Oswald, Isabelle P. Oswald, mBio, doi: 10.1128/mBio.00007-17, published 14 March 2017.