Ochratoxin A in human blood and Balkan endemic nephropathy

The etiology of Balkan endemic nephropathy, a kidney disease encountered among the rural population living in regions along several big rivers on the Balkan Peninsula, remains unknown in spite of many hypotheses put forward and tested. One hypothesis involves mycotoxins as the causal agent. The mycotoxin ochratoxin A has been demonstrated to have a potent nephrotoxic effect in all mammalian species tested so far.The results of analysis of ochratoxin A in human blood samples by an analytical method based on the measurement of fluorescence spectra, before and after incubation with carboxypeptidase A, is described. For a 2-g-sample the detection limit of the method is 1–2 ng/g serum. High performance liquid chromatography used for the confirmation of ochratoxin A identity by means of several derivatives of the molecule is also described. Out of more than 600 samples collected in an endemic region in Yugoslavia about 7% were positive for ochratoxin A. The highest concentration found was 40 ng ochratoxin A/g serum.