Ochratoxin A (OTA) and citrinin (CIT) are both nephrotoxic and teratogenic in animals, and the occurrence of these mycotoxins in food may cause adverse health effects in humans. Data on the combined exposure to these food contaminants are still scarce, especially in pregnancy. Therefore, a biomonitoring study was conducted to determine the presence of urinary biomarkers of exposure to OTA and CIT in pregnant women in Bangladesh. In total, 54 spot urine samples were collected from residents of a rural and a suburban area of the Savar region in Dhaka district for analysis of OTA and CIT urinary biomarkers by previously validated HPLC-FD and LC-MS/MS methods. Most urines were positive for OTA and CIT biomarkers, with OTA being detected in 93 % (range 0.01-0.84 ng/mL) and CIT biomarkers in 87 % (range 0.02-6.93 ng/mL) of all samples. The mean levels of OTA were different between the rural (0.06 ± 0.07 ng/mL) and suburban (0.15 ± 0.19 ng/mL) study participants. CIT and its metabolite dihydrocitrinone (HO-CIT) were more than twofold higher in the rural (0.42 ± 1.20 and 0.55 ± 1.04 ng/mL, respectively) than the suburban (CIT 0.15 ± 0.13 ng/mL; HO-CIT 0.23 ± 0.18 ng/mL) participants. When a provisional daily intake for CIT was calculated, it exceeded the preliminary tolerable value set by European Food Safety Authority (0.2 μg/kg/day) in 9 % of the rural participants but in none of the urban participants. Urinary biomarker levels for OTA and CIT did not show significant association with intake of certain types of food consumed by the pregnant women, although total CIT biomarker levels were considerably higher among participants who consumed more rice in a day. Overall, this study indicates a frequent co-exposure to OTA and CIT among pregnant women in Bangladesh, at levels similar to those determined recently in the general population of this country.
Keywords: Citrinin; Exposure; Mycotoxins; Ochratoxin A; Urine.