d its derivatives [65,66]. The usage of modern agricultural practices, the existence of regulated meals processes, advertising and marketing systems, and legislated contamination levels have significantly decreased the human exposure to mycotoxins. Structurally equivalent to sphinganine (Sa) and sphingosine (So), fumonisins inhibit ceramide synthase and block the biosynthesis of complex sphingolipids, causing a number of biological effects in animals and humans [67]. Inside the Transkei area, in South Africa and China, fumonisin B1 (FB1), the most prevalent and toxic fumonisin [68,69], was epidemiologically connected to human esophageal cancer [66], whereas in South Texas, USA, it was connected with neural tube defects [70]. Hence, FB1 was classified by the IARC as possibly carcinogenic to humans, Group 2B [71]. Nevertheless, to assess the effect of FBs on human overall health, it truly is vital to evaluate exposure by estimating the EDI through food consumption or by figuring out biomarkers that reveal the total exposure, overcoming issues including differences in meals contamination and consumption, eating plan BRaf Inhibitor manufacturer habits, food CB1 Activator Synonyms preparation practices, at the same time drawbacks with regards to sampling representativeness along with the accurate assessment of those parameters [72]. Offered the non-existence of quantifiable metabolites, FB1 has been recommended as a biomarker. Studies on toxicokinetics with labeled and unlabeled FBs have demonstrated that a portion in the amount ingested is excreted through urine [73,74] and consequently urine, in place of plasma or feces, is usually deemed an excellent indicator to monitor human exposure [61,72,73,758]. An HBM study assessed the urinary levels of FBs in each rural and urban populations from the central zone of Portugal [77]. These authors found that none on the 68 subjects presented detectable levels of FB1 or fumonisin B2 (FB2), which can be explained by their low bioavailability given the decreased exposure levels and speedy elimination in the body [72]. In addition, only up to 1 of the ingested FB1 is excreted through urine [74]. Not too long ago, the above-mentioned multi-mycotoxin study reported that FB1 was identified in 7 and three of 24-h urine and first-morning urine samples, respectively. The biomarkers FB2, fumonisin B3 (FB3), as well as the hydrolysed metabolite HFB1 weren’t detected in any with the analyzed samples [59]. Other studies have also recommended the use of FB1 and FB2 as biomarkers of exposure to FBs, principally in populations with short-term exposures and beneath high degrees of exposure [72,74,75,79]. HBM studies performed in Italy and Sweden detected the presence of FBs in human urine [80,81]. A multi-biomarker analytical methodology, applied to evaluate the prevalence and levels of FB biomarkers within the urine samples of 52 volunteers inhabiting the Apulia region in Southern Italy, showed that 56 from the study population presented FB1 [80]. While maize and its derivatives don’t belong to the typical Italian diet plan, they’re usually consumed as chips, polenta, popcorn, beer, cornflakes, snacks, muesli, and mixed cereals. The mean concentrations of FB1 have been 0.055 L-1 , which represented an estimated human exposure that was reduced than the TDI established for these mycotoxins [80]. Moreover, Gong et al. [76] and Westhuizen et al. [74] could positively correlate the consumption of tortillas and maize with urinary FB1 concentrations in Mexican and South African populations, respectively. Even so, there are actually HBM studies that weren’t able to detect FBs inside the urine of Ge