Ochratoxin A detection by HPLC in target tissues of swine and cytological and histological analysis

Ochratoxins are fungal secondary metabolites that may contaminate a broad variety of foodstuff, such as grains, vegetables, coffee, dried fruits, beer, wine and meats. Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a potent nephrotoxin, carcinogen, teratogen and immunotoxin. Samples of kidney, urinary bladder, intestine, stomach, liver, lymph nodes and muscles were obtained from 5 swine fed with OTA-contaminated feed. In the 5 swine, microscopical lesions were evidenced exclusively in the kidneys and in the urinary bladder, that displayed the highest concentrations of OTA by HPLC-FLD analysis, 23.9–27.5 μg/kg and 9.8–11.5 μg/kg, respectively.