Mycotoxin

Mycotoxins are chemically diverse toxic secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, and Claviceps[1][3][5][7]. Hundreds of types exist, but a small subset cause the greatest risk to human and animal health, notably aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, fumonisins, zearalenone, and deoxynivalenol[1][3][5][9]. These compounds can contaminate crops and foodstuffs, especially under warm, humid conditions, and are chemically stable, often surviving food processing[9]. Their biological effects vary: aflatoxins are strongly carcinogenic and hepatotoxic; ochratoxin A is nephrotoxic and carcinogenic; deoxynivalenol is immunosuppressive and causes protein synthesis inhibition[6]. Mycotoxins do not serve as druggable targets in the sense of traditional pharmacology; rather, they are hazardous environmental agents, and research is focused on detection, detoxification, and mitigation of their effects on health[1][10]. In summary, mycotoxins refer to a broad chemical class of toxic fungal metabolites, not an individual target molecule or protein. Therefore, most fields above are either inapplicable or reflect the broad toxicological relevance, not target-drug interaction.

Other names

Mycotoxinsfungal toxinssecondary fungal metabolites

mycotoxins act via direct toxicity, not as a modulated pathway; some cause DNA adduction, inhibition of protein synthesis, apoptosis induction, endocrine disruption, ROS generation, ribotoxic stress