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Plasma ochratoxin A levels, food consumption, and risk biomarkers of a representative sample of men and women from the Molise region in Italy

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Abstract

Background

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin present in food that can be found in human blood, due to its long half-life. Plasma OTA detection represents a good parameter for evaluating the exposure at the population level.

Purpose

The relation between plasma OTA levels, dietary habits, and specific disease risk biomarkers (body mass index (BMI), C-reactive protein (CRP), and cardiovascular risk score) was investigated.

Methods

The study involved 327 subjects (150 men and 177 women) aged between 38 and 48 years. Food consumption was evaluated by means of the EPIC questionnaire; plasma OTA was measured by HPLC; CRP was determined in fresh serum samples by a latex particle-enhanced immunoturbidimetric assay.

Results

OTA was detected in 99.1% of plasma samples (LOD 25 ng/L); the mean ± SD value was 0.229 ± 0.238 ng/mL. However, only 5.2% of samples exceeded 500 ng/L, considered the threshold for a possible pathogenic activity. The estimated mean daily dietary intake of OTA resulted 0.452 ± 0.468 ng/kg body weight (bw)/day, markedly lower than the tolerable daily intake set by EFSA (17.1 ng/kg bw/day). Processed and mutton/lamb meat were found to contribute most to plasma OTA variance. Nevertheless, cereals, wine, beer, and jam/honey consumption correlated positively with OTA levels. Plasma OTA showed a significant positive association with CRP and cardiovascular risk score (β = 0.20 ± 0.08; P = 0.015 and β = 0.25 ± 0.08; P = 0.001, respectively); however, the association was present in men but not in women.

Conclusions

Even if the hypothesis of a possible hepatic toxicity of OTA in humans is yet to be verified, the positive association between plasma OTA and CRP may indicate a possible role of OTA in inflammation status and consequently in the genesis of cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

bw:

Body weight

CRP:

C-reactive protein

CVD:

Cardiovascular disease

OTA:

Ochratoxin A

LOD:

Limit of detection

LOQ:

Limit of quantification

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

RSD:

Relative standard deviation

TWI:

Tolerable weekly intake

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Fondazione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi, Milano, Italia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense, 84, 29122, Piacenza, Italy

    Terenzio Bertuzzi, Filippo Rossi, Silvia Rastelli, Annalisa Mulazzi, Jessica Capraro & Amedeo Pietri

  2. Laboratorio di Epidemiologia Genetica ed Ambientale, Laboratori di Ricerca, Fondazione di Ricerca e Cura “Giovanni Paolo II”, 86100, Campobasso, Italy

    Romina di Giuseppe, Amalia de Curtis & Licia Iacoviello

  3. Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, 14558, Nuthetal, Germany

    Romina di Giuseppe

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  1. Romina di Giuseppe
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  2. Terenzio Bertuzzi
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Correspondence to Filippo Rossi.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 Food items included in each food groups
Full size table

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di Giuseppe, R., Bertuzzi, T., Rossi, F. et al. Plasma ochratoxin A levels, food consumption, and risk biomarkers of a representative sample of men and women from the Molise region in Italy. Eur J Nutr 51, 851–860 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-011-0265-5

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