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Ochratoxin A Was Detected in All 54 Wild Boar Examined in Apulia

Wild boar among flowers in Salse di Nirano Natural Reserve, Italy
Research · Other research

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a mycotoxin produced by some fungi, was detected in at least one tissue from every one of 54 wild boar (Sus scrofa) examined in the Apulia region of southern Italy. Concentrations were highest in the kidneys, and kidney samples with OTA levels above 5 µg/kg showed glomerular alterations.

The researchers analysed kidney, liver and muscle from legally hunted wild boar using high-performance liquid chromatography, a method that separates compounds in a sample so the toxin can be measured, and also examined target tissues histologically. Mean OTA concentrations showed a clear tissue gradient: about 3.8 µg/kg in kidney, 1.9 µg/kg in liver and 0.3 µg/kg in muscle. In practical terms, the average kidney concentration was about twice that in liver and more than ten times that in muscle.

Kidneys therefore carried substantially higher concentrations than the other tissues. In samples above 5 µg/kg, the researchers observed changes in the glomeruli—the kidney’s microscopic filtration units—including increased cell density, narrowed capillaries and reduced Bowman’s space around the filtering tuft. Some renal corpuscles were also atrophic or confluent.

The authors interpret the widespread detection as evidence of environmental OTA exposure in the sampled wild boar population and the kidney findings as consistent with nephrotoxic effects. They also highlight wild boar as a potential bioindicator of environmental mycotoxin contamination. Because OTA can enter animal-derived foods, including game meat, they frame monitoring of wild boar as relevant to food-chain surveillance and argue that active surveillance could provide useful data for protecting animal and human health.

Sources and image credit

  1. Dimuccio, M. M., Conforti, V., Capuozzo, F., Ceci, E., Ventriglia, G., Zupa, R., Del Frassino, D. M., Matrella, R., & Bozzo, G. (2026). Occurrence of Ochratoxin A in wild boar (Sus scrofa Linnaeus): HPLC detection and histopathological analysis of target tissues. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 157, 109371.Open-access primary research article. OTA was detected in at least one target tissue of all 54 wild boar examined in Apulia. Mean concentrations were 3.80 µg/kg in kidney, 1.91 µg/kg in liver and 0.31 µg/kg in muscle; kidney samples above 5 µg/kg showed glomerular alterations.

Image: Diego Foà / Wikimedia Commons — wild boar in Salse di Nirano Natural Reserve, Italy, 6 September 2014; representative species image · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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