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

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.

Conclusion: This study showed that there may not be a connection between aflatoxin exposure and human BTA which is one of the biomarkers of bladder cancer.

Keywords: Bladder tumor antigen; Aflatoxin M1; Association; Bladder cancer pathophysiology; Nigeria