OCHRATOXIN A IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Abstract

Ochratoxin A (OTA) was found in cereals in the former Czechoslovakia as early as 1978. It was even the cause of mycotoxic nephropathy in pigs in a farm in the second half of the 1970s. Since then OTA has been monitored by the health authorities of Czechoslovakia and now the Czech Republic. OTA was detected in samples of various foodstuffs e.g. composite samples of cereals, pastry, coffee and raisins. OTA was also found in the blood serum of blood donors. A recent study of the accumulation of OTA in patients with chronic renal insufficiency (CHRI) has demonstrated that unlike in the control group of blood donors, the retention of OTA is significant in outpatients with stabilized CHRI and patients in the terminal stage of CHRI (who are regularly treated by dialysis). Because of the nephrotoxicity of OTA, such a retention may accelerate their disease. The study has also shown that a standard dialysis did not result in the decrease of OTA serum levels. Findings of OTA in biological materials have proven that the Czech population is exposed to this toxin to a certain degree.