Is Kashin-Beck disease related to the presence of fungi on grains?

Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) is an endemic osteochondropathy that affects primarily children in Asia. More than 30 million people livin g in endemic areas are at direct risk of developing KBD, and approximately 2 million people are affected in China alone. Its unknown aetiology represents a continuing challenge to agroenvironmental and medical sciences. Currently, severe contamination of cereals by mycotoxin-producing fungi has been proposed as one of the major environmental causes of the disease. Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxic chemical compounds produced by fungi infesting agricultural crops during both crop growth and storage. Such secondary metabolites, when ingested, can produce toxic syndromes in humans. Since it has been hypothesised that the presence of fungi on barley grains might be involved in the development of KBD, we have undertaken a survey of barley and wheat grain of KBD-affected and non-affected families in the Autonomous Region of Tibet and in Shaanxi Province (China).