Natural occurrences of ochratoxicosis in slaughtered pigs from different regions of Serbia

Samples of blood, kidney and liver per animal were randomly selected from slaughtered pigs (n=60) and analyzed for ochratoxin A. Determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) concentration in samples of kidney and liver was performed by HPTLC after immunoaffnity column clean-up, while for plasma samples, spectrofluorometric procedure was used. Of the 60 plasma samples, 60% contained OTA in the range of 2.5-33.3 ng/mL (mean 3.05±5.0 ng/mL), while the incidence of OTA in kidneys and liver were very similar (70% and 65%). The average OTA concentration in liver was 3.2±4.35 ng/g (1.2-19.5 ng/g) and in kidneys was 3.97±4.47 ng/g (1.3-22.0 ng/g). A statistically significant difference (p<0.01) was found between region B. Topola and Kovilj for both liver and kidney samples. Also, in kidney originating from region Kovilj and Senta a statistically significant difference (p<0.01) was found. Mean distribution followed the pattern:kidney>liver>serum (100>80.8>77%). The results from these survey indicated that there was a strong correlation between the OTA level in serum and liver as well as in the OTA serum in kidney (r=0.884 and r=0.896, respectively) while the strongest correlation was found between the OTA level in liver and in kidney (r=0.970).