Co-occurrence of Ochratoxin A and Citrinin in Cereals from Bulgarian Villages with a History of Balkan Endemic Nephropathy

Abstract

Cereal samples were collected in 1998 from Bulgarian villages without [control village (C), n = 20] or with [endemic villages (E); E1, n = 21; E2, n = 30; E3, n = 23] a history of Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN). Sampling included foods (wheat, corn) and feeds (barley, oats, wheat bran). Analysis of ochratoxin A and citrinin was done by enzyme immunoassays (EIA), with detection limits of 0.5 and 5 ng/g, respectively. Ochratoxin A-positive results were confirmed by HPLC after immunoaffinity chromatography. Highest toxin levels were found in wheat, wheat bran, and oats. For ochratoxin A, the percentages of positives were 35% (C), 29% (E1), 30% (E2), and 47% (E3), the mean/median values of positives were 1.5/1.3 ng/g (C), 11/1.6 ng/g (E1), 18/1.6 ng/g (E2), and 3.5/1.5 ng/g (E3). For citrinin, 5.0% (C), 14% (E1), 3.3% (E2), and 13% (E3) were positive, and the mean/median values were 6.1/6.1 ng/g (C), 180/83 ng/g (E1), 10/10 ng/g (E2), and 84/20 ng/g (E3). Highest concentrations of ochratoxin (maximum = 140 ng/g) and citrinin (maximum = 420 ng/g) were found in samples from endemic villages. Co-contamination with ochratoxin A and citrinin was found for one sample (14% of positives) from village C and for six samples (22% of positives) from villages E1-E3. Citrinin levels in these samples were 2-200 times higher than those of ochratoxin A.

Citrinin induces apoptosis via a mitochondria-dependent pathway and inhibition of survival signals in embryonic stem cells, and causes developmental injury in blastocysts

“…180-580 ng/g [36]. CTN contamination has additionally been reported in Monascus fermentation products [29,37] used as food colourants and flavour enhancers in the Orient, and as dietary supplements believed to prevent heart disease and decrease plasma triacylglycerol and cholesterol levels [38].…”

Aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and zearalenone in maize-based food products

“…Ochratoxin A (OA) is mainly produced by fungi Aspergillus and Penicillium genus (50), where A. ochraceus (Wilhelm) and P. verucosum (Dierckx) are the main productive species of this mycotoxin. Ochratoxin A (OA) is mutagenic, teratogenic and nephrotoxic and has been involved in etiology of Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (7).…”

Ochratoxin A contamination of cereal grains and coffee in Hungary in the year 2001

“…This mycotoxin is produced mainly by the mould fungi Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium verrucosum that grow on cereal grains and other plant-derived products during storage at 15-19% moisture content and temperatures exceeding 15 °C (Abramson et al, 1992). OTA contamination occurs in barley (Scudamore et al, 1997), wheat (Vrabcheva et al, 2000), maize (Scudamore and Patel, 2000) and other cereals (Jorgensen et al, 1996) with a prevalence and intensity that vary by year and by country. In Hungary, 14-15% of the feeds analysed in the 1970s was found to contain OTA (Sándor et al, 1982).…”

“…Its nephrotoxic effect in pigs was first reported by Larsen (1928). Although numerous data suggest that the so-called 'Balkan endemic nephropathy', the longknown disease associated with chronic nephropathy in humans, is caused by OTA, the aetiology of this disease cannot be considered fully clarified yet (Vrabcheva et al, 2000;Puntaric et al, 2001). Studies conducted in recent years have demonstrated that OTA has carcinogenic, teratogenic and immunotoxic effects (Huff, 1991;Kuiper-Goodman, 1991;Petzinger and Ziegler, 2000).…”