ACUTE-RENAL-FAILURE FROM INHALATION OF MYCOTOXINS

Mysterious deaths of archeologists after opening Egyptian tombs have b een suspected to be secondary to inhalation of mycotoxin, however, the hypothesis has never been verified. Recently, we observed a case of a cute renal failure (ARF) undeniably due to inhalation of ochratoxin of Aspergillus ochraceus. After spending 8 h in a granary which had been closed for several months, a farmer and his wife suffered temporary r espiratory distress; 24 h later, the woman developed nonoliguric ARF a nd biopsy revealed tubulonecrosis which healed in 24 days. Toxic subst ances were not found, but a strain of A. ochraceus producing ochratoxi n was isolated from the wheat.