The presence of ochratoxin A in cord serum and in human milk and its correspondence with maternal dietary habits.

Background: Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin present in food that can be found in human blood and milk.

Purpose: The link between the nutritional habits of pregnant women both of Italian and foreign nationality resident in Italy and the presence of ochratoxin A in cord blood and in maternal milk was investigated.

Methods: The study involved 130 pregnant women. Food consumption during pregnancy was evaluated by means of the EPIC questionnaire; OTA content was determined in cord serum and maternal milk by HPLC.

Results: The mean daily dietary intake of OTA was 1.02 ± 1.20 and 0.87 ± 0.78 ng/kg of bodyweight for Italian and non-Italian women, respectively, but this difference was not statistically significant. The incidence of positive milk samples was 73.0 and 85.0% among the Italian and non-Italian mothers, respectively. Pork meat, soft drinks, sweets and red wine showed a significant relationship with OTA level in serum. As far as milk is concerned, a positive relationship resulted for pork meat, sweets, soft drinks and seed oils. A positive relationship between serum OTA level and the ratio serum/milk OTA was found. The intake of OTA had no effect on the cord blood creatinine level.

Conclusions: This study confirms that OTA is widely present in human milk and therefore could pose a risk for the newborn.