HPLC Determination of Ochratoxin A in a Low Volume of Human Blood Serum

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) in human blood serum. Samples were purified on a C18 solid phase extraction column. The developed method required a relatively low serum volume (0.5ml). Significant correlation (r of 0.998) was found over the range from 0.10 to 8ng/ml, with a detection limit of 0.1ng/ml and better performance in terms of precision and accuracy. Mean recoveries at 0.5 and 2ng/ml were respectively 69.7 +/- 1.2 and 71.9 +/- 2.8%. This method was used as a rapid and noninvasive tool to assess human exposure to OTA. Among 40 analyzed serum samples, 27.5% were found to contain OTA with levels going from 0.1 to 11.98ng/ml with a mean concentration of 0.73 +/- 2.35ng/ml.