engleski

Citrinin in endemic nephropathy

Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) is a tubulo- interstitial nephropathy associated with upper urinary tract cancers. Recently it was confirmed that aristolochic acid is a causative agent and BEN is considered an environmental form of aristolochic acid nephropathy. Citrinin (CTN) is a mycotoxin produced by several species of the genera Aspergillus, Monascus, and Penicillium and occurs mainly in stored grains. It was speculated that mycotoxins might play an additive role to aristolochic acid in etiophatogenesis of BEN. So far, that claim has not yet been proven. The aim of this study was to analyse urine CTN concentrations in residents of endemic villages. In this study we enrolled 38 patients who were diagnosed with BEN and another 38 subjects from non-endemic villages as the control. CTN was determined in spot urine by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). For the statistical analysis of the data we used Student’s t-test. Our preliminary data show that CTN urine concentrations is higher in BEN than in non-BEN households, which might indicate poorer storage of harvested grain. This result should be confirmed on a larger number of subjects to determine the putative role of CTN in the etiophatogenesis of BEN.

Balkan endemic nephropathy ; ELISA ; mycotoxins ; spot urine

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