Risk Assessment on the Aflatoxin-induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Communities Subsisting on Sorghum Products in the Sudan Savannah Zone of Nigeria

Abstract

Sorghum is a local drought resistant grain that grows predominantly in the arid, semi-arid and savannah regions of Nigeria and other parts of the world. The Sudan savannah agro-ecological belt of Nigeria was delineated into five sampling districts from where raw and processed sorghum based products were collected. Sorghum based products such as gruel, pap and porridge were sampled using a quantitative food frequency questionnaire (QFFQ) followed by measurement of the body weight and the quantity of food consumed by the respondents. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC/MS) was used to determine the mycotoxin concentrations in both raw and the sorghum based products. Mycotoxin concentrations determined in both raw and processed samples was used to determine the amount of mycotoxins consumed by respondents from different age groups. Subsequently the burden of aflatoxin induced Hepatocelluar carcinoma(HCC) in communities (within the zone) that subsist on sorghum and sorghum based products was also determined. Average daily consumption of sorghum based products based on age range was found to be 192.5±8.32g/day, 617.0±16.45g/day, 810.2±23.24g/day and 746.1±21.02g/day for the infants, children, adults and elderly respectively . There was a significant difference (P = 0.05) in mycotoxins concentration between the raw and the processed sorghum samples in the area under study. The permissible total daily intake (PTDI) and total dily intake (TDI) levels set by the regulatory agencies for the mycotoxin was however observed not to be attained despite the processing methods employed in the preparation of these products. The predictive incidence of HCC and the burden aflatoxin induced HCC in the HbsAg+ and the HbsAg- populations was found to be alarmingly high.