Studies on teratogenic effect of ochratoxin A given via mouldy diet in mice in various sensitive periods of the pregnancy and the putative protection of phenylalanine.

Embryotoxic and teratogenic effects were found in OTA-treated pregnant Swiss albino mice, which were particularly strong at OTA contamination levels of 20 ppm (corresponding to 2.8 mg OTA/kg bw per day), when fed between the day 7 and day 12 of the pregnancy. Slighter embryotoxic and teratogenic effects were found when OTA was given up to day 7 or after day 12 of mice pregnancy. The feed levels of 10 ppm OTA (corresponding to 1.4 mg OTA/kg bw per day) have a significantly weaker embryotoxic and teratogenic effects on pregnant mice and no such effects were found at 5 ppm OTA (corresponding to 0.7 mg OTA/kg gt per day). The main OTA-induced malformations wre seen in the craniofacial structures, e.g. anophthalmia, monophthalmia, microphthalmia, astomia, microstomia, maxillary hypoplasia, microcephaly, macrocephaly, in newborn mice as compared to OTA-induced somatic malformations, e.g. peromelia, micromelia, spina bifida and facial cleft. Phenylalanine given at 20 ppm in the diet was found to have a protective effect against embryotoxic and teratogenic effects of OTA.