title: Ochratoxin A concentrations in food and feed from a region with Balkan Endemic Nephropathy.
abstract: Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN), a chronic renal disease of unknown aetiology, is found in geographically close areas of Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Ochratoxin A (OTA), a secondary metabolite of Aspergillus and Penicillium species and a natural contaminant of food and feed, is a putative cause of BEN. Some studies have found a geographic covariation between OTA content in food/feed and BEN manifestation; others have not. In May 2000, using a competitive direct ELISA assay for OTA (detection limit 1 microg kg(-1)), we investigated OTA contamination in 165 samples of home-produced food (beans, potatoes, corn, wheat, flour) and feed from households in villages from the BEN region (Vratza district) of north-western Bulgaria. Samples were collected from: (a) BEN villages (n = 8), and therein from BEN households (20), and BEN-free households (16) (within-village controls, WVC households); and (b) BEN-free villages (7) and therein BEN-free households (22) (between-village controls, BVC). BEN households consistently had a higher proportion of OTA-positive samples than WVC households, but similar (for some foods) or lower (for other foods) proportions to BVC households. The proportion of OTA-positive samples was also higher in BVC than in WVC households. Furthermore, BEN households had a similar proportion of OTA-positive samples to the pooled, WVC and BVC, group of households. OTA-exposure estimates, derived from our OTA-concentration findings and the reported average per capita monthly consumption of basic foods in rural Bulgaria, showed the highest OTA intake in BEN households (1.21 microg day(-1)), versus 1.03 microg day(-1) in BVC and 0.71 microg day(-1) in WVC households. These OTA intakes are higher than those in the EU, and are close to the upper limits acceptable to several food-safety organizations. The results indicate that OTA may not alone cause BEN; only synergistically with other environmental toxicants and/or predisposing genotypes may do so.
authors.affiliation: Neogen Corporation, Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Abouzied
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Horvath
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Podlesny
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Regina
authors.forename: V D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Metodiev
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Kamenova-Tozeva
authors.forename: N D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Niagolova
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Petropoulos
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Ganev
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D001449:Balkan Nephropathy / Q000209:etiology*; D002031:Bulgaria; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008452:Maximum Allowable Concentration; D009793:Ochratoxins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D002273:Carcinogens; D009793:Ochratoxins; C025589:ochratoxin A