Phenylalanine prevents acute poisoning by ochratoxina in mice.

Ochratoxin-A (OT-A) a mycotoxin isolated from Aspergillus ochraceus is toxic for animals and man causing a fatal chronic kidney disease and liver damages. OT-A is a competitive inhibitor of phenylalanine in the phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase-catalyzed reaction thus inhibiting protein synthesis. This inhibition can be reversed by phenylalanine. When injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) to mice a dose of 0.8 mg of OT-A is lethal within 24h. However, when this lethal dose is injected together with 1 mg of phenylalanine 100% of the animals survive. When phenylalanine was injected 30 min after OT-A the doses required for the survival of 92% of the animals had to be about 25 times higher.