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How Harmful is Ochratoxin A

As one of the most worried things for farmers, Ochratoxin A(OTA) dose harms to both animals and human beings. Ochratoxin A can be everywhere. Animals get Ochratoxin A by eating the polluted feeds and people have Ochratoxin A by eating toxic animals.

OTA mainly damage kidneys and livers of animals. Kidneys are the first target organs and only taking vast Ochratoxin A leads to liver disease. Pigs and fowls are most sensitive to
Ochratoxin A. The acute toxic reactions are depression,digestive disorders , enteritis visible mucosal bleeding , or diarrhea. Pregnant dams even have abortion. What is the toxic reactions of kidneys. First,kidney become fat and pale; the surface is uneven and have small bubbles; renal necrosis happens and renal cortical cells induce gap. Second, proximal tubule function degenerates;renal tubular permeability deteriorates, ability to concentrate decrease. Third, Plasma total protein , albumin and globulin decrease. The chronic poisoning actions are poor bone integrity , intestine and kidney damage fragile.

If found poisoning of animals, the primary thing to do is stopping feeding them with toxic feeds and change into the feeds which is easy to digest and is rich in vitamins. Give thesymptomatic treatment to animals with serious condition to protect them from dehydration. Phenylalanine injection is effective to treat OTA acute poisoning.

How to prevent Ochratoxin A from animals? Prevention is more important than treatment. There are some tips on prevention and control of Ochratoxin A. Ochratoxin A act steadily to heat, so it is not ideal to remove toxicity through heating. According to the report, adds some cholestyramine into the feeds and irradiates it with γ-rays and ultraviolet, which can promote remove toxicity. In addition, OTA and OTB can hydrolyze to phenylalanine and OA with less toxicity under the catalysis of carboxypeptidase A and chymotrypsin. Hydrolysis rate of OTB is six to seven times that of OTA and rumen microbes have a strong reactivity. According to the experiment, adds Carboxypeptidase into fluids with OTA, after few days, the OTA decrease a lot. So It can be an effective way to remove OTA.