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In this study, we examined the expression of 11 cytokines in liver and serum of C57BL/6 mice upon single or co-exposed to Aflatoxin B1 and Microcystin-LR at low-dose and sub-chronic conditions. The objective is to elucidate the potential combined hepatotoxic effects induced by AFB1+MC-LR, and we aim to provide references for further immune impacts in the liver. Luminex-based cytokine examination was applied, and we found that most of the cytokine expression increased with time. The level of IL-18, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, IL-1β and IL-4 in the liver showed a significant rise. However, some cytokines (IL-13) showed an upward trend after being suppressed during the middle stage of exposure. The level of IFN-γ and IL-12p70 generally represented the immune response in the combined exposure group. Conclusionally, there are many uncertainties due to sub-chronic and low-dose exposure. Therefore, the occurrence of subsequent irreversible liver injury and liver cancer is a probabilistic event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two buckwheat groats processing methods were used for production of final commercial product. The first one involved thermal processing (steamed) and then dehulling, and the second one dehulling without thermal treatment (raw). The research evidenced that the raw groats and hulls were several times more contaminated with aflatoxin B1 compared with steamed ones. High concentrations of aflatoxin B1 (75.8 ìg kg-1) and T-2 toxin (351.0 ìg kg-1) were detected in the raw hull samples. The total phenolics responded more sensitively to thermal treatment than phenolic acids. More than 20 times higher concentrations of quercetin (65.47 ± 6.3 ìg g-1) were determined in steamed hulls compared to other raw and steamed samples. Buckwheat groats and hulls, containing the highest concentrations of quercetin and hydroxybenzoic acids, were found to be 10-fold less contaminated with aflatoxin B1 and T-2 toxins; however, the correlations between the phenolics and mycotoxins were statistically insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]