A pilot biomonitoring study of bladder tumor antigen (BTA) in aflatoxin exposed Nigerian villagers

5 PAGES (3022 WORDS) Microbiology Article/Essay

Abstract
Objective: To correlate the levels of bladder tumour antigen (BTA) with aflatoxin M1 (AFM) in a human
population in Nigeria.
Subjects and methods: A pilot, observational study was conducted with 22 human subjects randomly
recruited from a Nigerian rural community. Serum and first morning urine of participants were analysed
for human BTA and AFM1, respectively, using quantitative ELISA assays.
Results: All the subjects were positive to AFM1 (mean= 0.235± 0.072 ng/mL) while 19 were positive to
BTA (mean= 2.340± 1.741 ng/mL). A negative relationship occurred between human BTA and AFM level
(r = −0.239; P = 0.285). Human BTA (2.86± 2.43 ng/mL; P = 0.306) and AFM1 (0.258± 0.065 ng/mL;
P = 0.643) were higher in subjects 1–20 years. The two biomarkers were not also associated with sexes of
the participants (P>0.05), although they were higher in the female subjects.