Ochratoxin A in human serum samples collected in Isparta-Turkey from healthy individuals and individuals suffering from different urinary disorders

Ochratoxin A (OA) is a nephrotoxic fungal metabolite (mycotoxin) occurring in foodstuffs. The compound is causally associated with mycotoxin porcine nephropathy, a disease comparable with a human kidney disease called endemic nephropathy. In this paper OA levels in the human serum samples collected From healthy individuals and individuals suffering from different urinary disorders in Isparta-Turkey are presented. OA was measured in serum samples of 40 healthy people and a total of 93 patients with different kinds of urinary disorders. Four different kinds of urinary disorders were represented: chronic renal failure treated by hemodialysis (35), chronic renal failure treated by peritoneal dialysis (28), patients with bladder cancer (15), patients with renal stones (15). Analysis of OA in human blood samples was performed using an analytical method based on the measurement of fluorescence spectra. The mean concentration of OA in the healthy group was 0.4 +/- 0.28 ng/ml. The highest mean concentration was found in the group of patients treated by hemodialysis. 2.1 +/- 1.2 ng/ml. The mean concentrations of the toxin in all patients groups were higher compared to the control group. Also, a significant difference was found between the mean concentrations of the groups of patients treated by dialysis (hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis) and of the patients with renal stones or bladder cancer, only with the exception of the difference between peritoneal dialysis and renal stones group. No other significant differences were found when comparing the two groups. The findings indicate that OA may have a role in the human urinary pathology considered herein. A higher level of OA in dialysis groups compared to the control, renal stones and bladder cancer groups could probably be explained by the reduced glomerular filtration rate of these patients. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.