Occurrence of Ochratoxin A in wild boar (Sus scrofa Linnaeus): HPLC detection and histopathological analysis of target tissues

Ochratoxins are fungal secondary metabolites that can contaminate a broad variety of agricultural and food products. The ingestion of contaminated feed can lead to the transfer of mycotoxins to animal derived products, including meat. Human exposure occurs mainly through plant-based foods, pork and game meat and dairy products. The study aimed to investigate the occurrence of OTA in the wild boar, legally hunted in the Apulia region, and to evaluate histopathological changes in target tissues. OTA concentrations in kidney, liver, and muscle samples were determined using a validated HPLC method. OTA was detected in at least one target tissue of all 54 wild boars examined, confirming a 100% exposure rate in the sampled population. Mean concentration was 3.80 µg/kg (median = 3.31 µg/kg); 1.91 µg/kg (median = 1.56 µg/kg) and 0.31 µg/kg (median = 0.2 µg/kg) in kidney, liver and muscle, respectively. The maximum levels were 11.34 µg/kg in kidneys, 5.52 µg/kg in liver, and 1.72 µg/kg in muscle. Samples with OTA concentrations above 5 µg/kg showed renal glomeruli with one or more alterations. These included renal corpuscles with marked mesangial hypercellularity associated with narrowing glomerular capillaries and reduced Bowman’s space; atrophic renal corpuscles and confluence of renal corpuscles. These findings highlight the role of the wild boar as a bioindicator of environmental risks and suggest that active surveillance of these wild animals can provide useful data to protect animal and human health.