Study of ochratoxin A as an environmental risk that causes renal injury in breast-fed Egyptian infants

Ochratoxin A (OTA) constitutes a real human threat. Its presence in human milk has previously been reported in different countries. This study is the first Egyptian report on the presence of OTA in both mothers' milk and infants' sera, addressing its correlation with infants' kidney functions, which was not previously addressed in the literature. Fifty healthy breast-lactating mothers and their infants who were exclusively breast-fed for at least 4 months were included. All of them were subjected to a thorough laboratory evaluation including determination of OTA concentration by high-performance liquid chromatography. Thirty-six mothers (72%) and their infants had been contaminated with OTA. Univariate analysis showed that the presence of OTA was associated with significantly higher levels of urinary beta 2 microglobulin and microalbuminuria. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between a higher OTA level in infants' sera and the degree of microalbuminuria. Mothers and their infants in our locality are exposed to a high OTA contamination rate (72%). To establish the role of OTA in causation of future renal dysfunction for infants, large controlled studies are warranted.