Citrinin - a little-known mycotoxin

Citrinin is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by several filamentous fungi of the genera Penicillium, Aspergillus and Monascus, which has been encountered as a natural contaminant in grains (wheat, corn, rice and barley), other plant products such as beans, fruits, fruit and vegetable juices, herbs and spices, in spoiled dairy products,  feedstuffs, as well as biological fluids. This mycotoxin is known to occur also as an undesirable contaminant in Monascus fermentation products (generally described as red yeast rice (RYR)), which have been used in Asia for centuries for meat preservation and food colouring. Instrumental techniques for citrinin analysis include fluorimetric, chromatographic and immunochemical techniques. To date, high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) is the method of choice for routine analysis. Сitrinin is acutely nephrotoxic at relatively high doses in mice and rats, rabbits, pigs and poultry, causing swelling and eventual necrosis of the kidneys and affecting the liver function at a lesser extent. It may be implicated in human disease, such as "yellow rice" disease in Japan and Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN) when present with other mycotoxins, in particular OTA. Balkan endemic nephropathy is a noninflammatory bilateral kidney disease that affects rural populations in a few regions of former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Romania.