Aflatoxins in the lungs of children with kwashiorkor and children with miscellaneous diseases in Nigeria.

Autopsy lung specimens from 20 children with kwashiorkor and 20 with other miscellaneous diseases, at the Obafemi Awolowo Teaching Hospital complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, were analyzed for the presence of aflatoxin using high-performance liquid chromatography. Aflatoxins were detected in 18 children who died from kwashiorkor but only in 13 of those who died from miscellaneous diseases. Of the 10 children, 5 in each group, who died with pneumonia, all had detectable levels of aflatoxins in their lungs. The two children with congestive cardiac failure, one secondary to pneumonia and the other secondary to tuberculous pericarditis, had more than two detectable aflatoxins in their lungs. These findings demonstrate that Nigerian children are exposed to aflatoxins and that high levels can accumulate in lung tissue.