Estimation of ochratoxin A in the human blood of Romanian population
Anca Vartolomei Zlăvog1, Magdalena Cuciureanu2, Elena Schiriac3
1University of Medicine and Pharmacy Grigore T. Popa-Iasi, Department of Environmental and Food Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine.
Unlabelled:
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a toxic secondary metabolite of fungi belonging to the Aspergillus and Penicillium genera, its presence in human blood being the primary indicator of exposure.
Aim:
In the present study we determined OTA in 38 blood samples collected from healthy Romanian subjects of both genders.
Material And Methods:
The OTA was determined through the direct, competitive, solid-phase immunoenzymatic method; the minimum quantification limit for determining OTA in serum samples was 0.0289 ng/mL.
Results:
The positive sample percentage was 100%. OTA concentrations varied between < 0.04 ng/mL and 1 ng/mL. There were no significant differences between OTA concentrations in men versus women (0.24 +/- 0.20 ng/mL versus 0.17 +/- 0.15 ng/mL, p = 0.3527).
Conclusions:
The analyzed blood samples exhibit a very high degree of exposure to OTA, but in only approximately 10% of the subjects exceeded 0.5 ng/mL, considered the threshold for OTA-induced renal pathology.
