Aflatoxins in autopsy kidney specimens from children in Nigeria

Autopsy kidney specimens from 24 children with kwashiorkor and 21 with other miscellaneous diseases, at the Obafemi Awolowo Teaching Hospital Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, were analyzed for the presence of aflatoxins using high-performance liquid chromatography. Aflatoxins were detected in 14 children who died of kwashiorkor and in 13 of those who died from miscellaneous diseases. Aflatoxicol was detected in 10 specimens, 7 of which had severe gastroenteritis. Seven kidney specimens demonstrated the presence of more than one type of aflatoxin; four of these were kidneys of patients with kwashiorkor and the remaining three died from renal failure. No difference was found between the frequency of detection, type of aflatoxin detected, or mean concentrations of total aflatoxins in the kidney specimens of the kwashiorkor children when compared to the kidney specimens of children who died from miscellaneous diseases. These findings demonstrate that aflatoxins can be detected in the kidneys of children exposed to aflatoxins.