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Abstract
In the last few years, an increase in the number of human liver and kidney diseases in Egypt has been reported. This initiated a multidisciplinary study to disclose the possible role of aflatoxins and ochratoxins in the high incidence of hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in Egypt.
The first phase of this study was to establish a protocol to detect mycotoxins in foods and animal feeds. In four independent studies, the following results have been accomplished:
1. Aflatoxins screening in over 1500 mixed animal feeds throughout Egypt.
2. Ochratoxins screening in over 200 animal feeds in Mansoura.
3. Multimycotoxin detection and quantification of Egyptian foods and feeds.
4. Local survey for aflatoxins in over 150 food samples from Mansoura, Egypt.
In the first study, a total of 1503 of commercially mixed feeds, cereal grains, milk replacers, protein concentrates and processed animal feeds were collected during the years 1991–1994 from commercial mills and animal feeding stores located throughout Egypt. Aflatoxins were detected in 619 (41 %) samples in the range of 1–2000 ppb. The commercially mixed feeds were found to be more contaminated with aflatoxins than were in the cereal grains. Poultry rations showed the highest % of aflatoxins (55 %) among the total tested (362) samples. On the other hand, milk replacer showed to have the lowest aflatoxins contamination (7%). In the second study, 62 out of 202 samples of animal feeds (31%) were contaminated with ochratoxins. Straw and tiben showed the highest contamination while bean, beet, and wheat showed no ochratoxins. In the third study, a multimycotoxins screening of several edible Egyptian seeds and fruits from Mansoura and its surroundings showed that 77 % of tested samples were contaminated with zearalenone, vomitoxin, ochratoxin, and aflatoxin. In the fourth study, Forty nine (31.6 %) of 155 samples were contaminated with aflatoxins. The heaviest contamination occurred in chicken stock (66.6 % of samples). On the other hand, vegetable oils and candies were free from aflatoxins. The concentration of aflatoxins in contaminated samples was as follows: AFB1 : 41 samples (83.6 %), at 15–122 ppb; AFB2 : 3 samples (6.1 %), at 49–68 ppb: AFG1 : 8 samples (6.3 %), at 38–210 ppb; AFG2 : 3 samples (6.1 %), at 40–210 ppb.
The second phase of this study was to detect mycotoxins in urine and serum of patients with liver disease. Clinical study was conducted on 47 patients, 23 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 15 with liver cirrhosis and 9 healthy as control group.
The aim of this work was to find if ingested aflatoxin act synergistically with Hepatitis-B viruses in the pathogenesis of chronic liver diseases in Mansoura and its surroundings and its relation to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Aflatoxin (AFB1) was detected in urine and serum of 66.6 % and 56.5 % of cirrhotic and HCC patients respectively but not in the control group. A statistically significant positive relationship was found between urinary and serum AFB1 and age in cirrhotic patients. Also, an inverse statistically significant relationship was found between AFB1 and serum albumin in the same group. These results may explain the recent increase of some liver diseases as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among Egyptian. A study is undergoing to elucidate the cause-effect relationship between the high incidence of ochratoxins and nephropathy in Egypt.