Balkan endemic nephropathy: role of ochratoxins A through biomarkers.

Several studies implicated mycotoxins, in endemic kidney disease geographically limited to Balkan region (Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN)). In Bulgaria, much higher prevalence of ochratoxin A (OTA), exceeding 2 microg/L, was observed in the blood of affected population. OTA is found more often in the urine of people living in BEN-endemic villages.

Analysis of ochratoxin A in foods consumed by inhabitants from an area with balkan endemic nephropathy: a 1 month follow-up study.

In the 1950s, a series of publications from Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Romania locally described a kidney disease called Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN). In Bulgaria, the exposure of populations to ochratoxin A (OTA) was supported by analysis of individual food items demonstrating a higher prevalence and higher levels of OTA in food from the high-incidence areas of BEN. In this work, food consumption from a series of individuals from two villages of the BEN area during 1 month was followed using the duplicate diet method.

Balkan endemic nephropathy and associated urinary tract tumours: a review on aetiological causes and the potential role of mycotoxins.

A series of publications in the 1950s described a kidney disease in Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia and Romania that became known as Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN). The disease was qualified by World Health Organisation (WHO) experts as 'progressive and very gradually developing renal failure with insidious onset..

Experimental mycotoxic nephropathy in pigs provoked by a diet containing ochratoxin A and penicillic acid.

Mycotoxic nephropathy was induced in 18 young pigs by diets contaminated with strains of Aspergillus ochraceus containing ochratoxin A (OTA) and penicillic acid (PA) at levels corresponding to those naturally encountered in animal feeds in Bulgaria. Haematological and biochemical parameters, as well as the morphological and ultrastructural changes in various internal organs, and especially in the kidneys, were examined at different stages of development of the disease. A mottled surface of the kidneys was only seen in pigs exposed to a mouldy diet containing 180 ppb OTA for 3 months, but microscopic lesions, as well as changes in various haematological and biochemical parameters, were observed in all groups exposed to the same mouldy diet containing only 90 or 180 ppb OTA.

Citrinin in the diet of young and healthy persons living in balkan endemic nephropathy areas.

The dietary citrinin (CT) intake of 19 persons living in highrisk "Balkan Endemic Nephropathy" areas in Bulgaria was studied. Over 4 weeks, volunteers collected aliquots of their daily meals. Weekly samples were homogenized and analysed for CT by enzyme immunoassay (detection limit: 1ng/g).