Effects of sulfur water extraction on anthocyanins properties of tepals in flower of saffron (Crocus sativus L).

A sulfur solution with different metabisulfite concentrations (100, 400, 700, 1,000 and 2,000 ppm) was used to extract anthocyanins from saffron tepals. The extraction process was compared with acidified ethanol solution at similar extraction times of 20, 40, 60, 120, and 180 min at 40 °C. The recovery of anthocyanins with sulfur solution was higher than ethanol extraction and reached to 700 mg anthocyanins/100 g, when the sulfur concentration and extraction time were 700 ppm and 60 min, respectively. HPLC analysis showed that anthocyanins extracted with sulfur solution followed by partial desulfurization and reducing sulfur content (to less than 250 ppm) had around 100 % more cyanidin 3 glucosides and 100 % less pelargonidin 3,5 glucosides in comparison with ethanol extraction. Additionally, the color of low-sulfured anthocyanins had more saturation (chroma), less lightness, and more stability than the one extracted with ethanol solution. While monomeric and polymeric anthocyanins extracted with sulfur solution had less than 1 % changes after 3 h extraction time, they had more than 12 % changes when they extracted with alcoholic solution at similar conditions. Overall, the sulfur method had a potential to extract stable anthocyanins from waste and discarded saffron tepals in aqueous solvent, and with higher quantity and quality (more attractive color) than conventional ethanol extraction method.

Spoligotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in anthracotic bronchitis.

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection has been shown to be associated with anthracotic bronchitis. However, the typical manifestation of infection is not usually present in infected patients, which raises the question of whether a particular strain of M. tuberculosis is associated with this group of patients. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a particular strain of M. tuberculosis is associated with anthracotic bronchitis. DESIGN: We assessed the predominant space oligonucleotide (spoligotype) patterns of M. tuberculosis complex isolated from patients with anthracotic bronchitis and compared the results with tuberculosis (TB) subtype patterns in Iran and other countries. RESULTS: During a 7-month period (April--October 2006), we enrolled 87 patients (30 men and 57 women) with anthracotic bronchitis, 26% (n = 23) of whom had TB. Spoligotyping of M. tuberculosis among these 23 patients showed four distinct patterns: East-African-Indian (11, 47.8%) and Central-Asian (7, 30.4%), Haarlem I (4, 17.4%) and T-1 (1, 4.3%). When compared with spoligotype patterns of M. tuberculosis in Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, anthracotic bronchitis had similar patterns. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the atypical manifestations of TB in anthracotic patients are not caused by any particular subtypes of M. tuberculosis. We conclude that anthracotic bronchitis is actually an atypical presentation of tuberculous infection with common subtypes inside the bronchial mucosa.

Update on Causes of Family Refusal for Organ Donation and the Related Factors: Reporting the Changes Over 6 Years.

INTRODUCTION: After significant improvement of the family consent rate to organ donation (OD) in recent years, owing to an increase in cultural activities and social awareness, a plateau has been reached. This study was performed to detect the causes for this plateau. METHODS: We reviewed exact causes of family refusal after providing a list of failed potential donors from July 2015 to December 2016. The expert coordinators responsible for handling the failed cases chose the cause of refusal from the previously prepared list. The list was rechecked by contacting the nondonating families by phone. The results were compared with those obtained from a similar group of families in 2009. RESULTS: In an 18-month period of OD practice, 353 potential brain dead organ donors were referred to our organ procurement unit. The mean age of the cases was 42.6, and 62% were male. The main causes of brain death were cerebrovascular accident and trauma (41.2% and 32.6%, respectively). The family consent rate was 84.4%, and 55 families rejected the request for OD. The leading cause for family refusal was religious beliefs, mainly from Sunni families (43.6% vs 8.6% in 2009). Brain death denial reduced significantly from 44.4% in 2009 to 12.7% in 2015 and 2016 (P < .001 for both causes). Opposite donor wishes, unstable family mood, the belief in body integrity, and expectation of a miracle were the other causes of no reportable changes. CONCLUSIONS: After massive social activities in the media designed to enhance social awareness regarding brain death and OD, people currently do not doubt the irreversibility of death, as in the past. However, the noticeable increase in the consent rate has made the religious cause of family refusal prominent. Therefore, this cause seems to be the next barrier to fight against, requiring a careful approach to religious leaders and societies.

Stabilization of three-dimensional charge order in YBa2Cu3O6+x via epitaxial growth.

Incommensurate charge order (CO) has been identified as the leading competitor of high-temperature superconductivity in all major families of layered copper oxides, but the perplexing variety of CO states in different cuprates has confounded investigations of its impact on the transport and thermodynamic properties. The three-dimensional (3D) CO observed in YBa2Cu3O6+x in high magnetic fields is of particular interest, because quantum transport measurements have revealed detailed information about the corresponding Fermi surface. Here we use resonant X-ray scattering to demonstrate 3D-CO in underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+x films grown epitaxially on SrTiO3 in the absence of magnetic fields. The resonance profiles indicate that Cu sites in the charge-reservoir layers participate in the CO state, and thus efficiently transmit CO correlations between adjacent CuO2 bilayer units. The results offer fresh perspectives for experiments elucidating the influence of 3D-CO on the electronic properties of cuprates without the need to apply high magnetic fields.

Deceased Organ Donation From Pediatric Donors: Does the Literature Really Help Us? Implication for More Powerful Guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Brain-dead pediatric donors have always been the focus of attention because of the higher quality, utility, and possibility of their organ donation. However, donors under the age of 5 years always necessitate making more challenging management efforts, which are not clearly implied in most parts of the guidelines. METHODS: The data obtained from 79 brain-dead pediatric donors of the Organ Procurement Unit of Masih Daneshvari Hospital, Tehran, Iran, were assessed. The donors were divided into 2 groups, including donors under 5 years of age (group A) and those between 5 and 12 years of age (group B). Metabolic, hemodynamic, hematologic, and electrolyte status as well as the suitability for donation were compared in the study groups. RESULTS: Of 1252 donors, 6.3% were under 12 years of age. Trauma and drug toxicity were the two primary causes of brain death in group A. In comparison, trauma and brain tumor were the leading causes of brain death in group B. The prevalence of both hyperglycemia and respiratory acidosis was significantly higher in group A (P < .05). However, severe anemia and coagulopathy were more prevalent in group B (P < .05). The high-dose inotropic administration was used for 42.4% of the donors in group A, whereas only 26% of the donors in group B needed a high dose of inotropes (P < .05). The mean quantity of organ harvested per donor was 2.1 and 2.25 in groups A and B, respectively. Furthermore, donor loss was not significantly different in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of different complications in donors under the age of 5 years requires special treatment considerations that should be the center of attention in the related guidelines. Organ donation per donor indicates that donors under the age of 5 years are a valuable resource for organ procurement.

The use of paramedics in family planning services in Iran.

In the Family Planning Department of Farah Maternity Hospital, from 1968 to 1976, paramedics were trained to administer all reversible methods of family planning and pregnancy termination up to ten weeks and to perform a limited number of abdominal and vaginal tubectomies (1). From 1974 to 1976, all the above methods, except tubal ligation, were performed satisfactorily on 460 417 acceptors at a clinic not located in the hospital. The complication rate of 1%-5% was the same whether the procedures were performed by paramedics or by physicians. The project has been economical. It has been accepted by both patients and paramedics and has freed doctors to carry out other work.

PIP: In the Family Planning Department of Farah Maternity Hospital paramedics were trained to administer all reversible forms of family planning and pregnancy termination up to 10 weeks and to perform a limited number of abdominal and vaginal tubectomies. This program occurred from 1968-76. From 1974-76, all the above methods, except tubal ligation, were performed satisfactorily on 460,417 acceptors at a clinic not located in the same hospital. The complication rate of 1-5% was the same whether the operations were performed by paramedics or by physicians. The project has been cost efficient. It has freed doctors to carry out other work and has been accepted by both patients and paramedics. The work of midwives is more acceptable to women patients because they can discuss their sexual and family planning problems freely. Legal difficulties prohibited the continuation of paramedics performing tubal ligations.

Efficacy of recruitment maneuver for improving the brain dead marginal lungs to ideal.

BACKGROUND: Because of the shortage of lungs for transplantation, finding the suitable lungs in brain-dead donors is an important issue. Recruitment maneuver is a strategy aimed at re-expanding collapsed and edematous lung tissue. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of this maneuver on improving marginal lungs for transplantation. METHODS: From 127 brain-dead potential donor which were evaluated for lung donation in Masih Daneshvari Organ Procurement Unit of Tehran, Iran, 31 (25%) had marginal lungs for transplantation. These donors had normal chest X ray or bilateral infiltration and had PaO2 200-300 mm Hg with FIO2 100%. The recruitment maneuver was performed and arterial blood gas was obtained before and after maneuver. The maneuver lasts for 2 hours with continuous check of O2 saturation and patient's hemodynamic during. Finally, patients with normal bronchoscopy and PaO2/FIO2 >300 mm Hg were considered good candidates for lung transplantation. The frequency (%) and mean ± SD were used for description of variables and the Wilcoxon test was used for comparison between pre- and post-maneuver PaO2 with FIO2 100%. RESULTS: The mean ± SD of PaO2/FIO2 with 100% FIO2 of patients before and after recruitment were 239 ± 62 and 269 ± 91, respectively. Recruitment maneuver could convert 10 marginal lungs (32%) to appropriate ones (PaO2 > 300) and finally 8 lungs were transplanted. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this study showed that recruitment maneuver could convert inappropriate lungs to appropriate ones in one third of brain-dead patients who had marginal lung condition. So, it is recommended that this maneuver is considered in the assessment protocol of lungs for donation.

Occurrence of different trichothecenes and deoxynivalenol-3-ß-D-glucoside in naturally and artificially contaminated Danish cereal grains and whole maize plants.

Fusarium mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON) can occur in cereals conjugated to glucose and probably also to other sugars. These conjugates, which are often referred to as "masked mycotoxins", will not be detected with routine analytical techniques. Furthermore, it is suspected that the parent toxin may again be released after hydrolysis in the digestive tracts of animals and humans. Today, our knowledge of the occurrence of these compounds in cereal grains is limited. In this paper, a LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of DON, deoxynivalenol-3-ß-D-glucoside (DON-3-glucoside), 3 acetyl-DON, nivalenol, fusarenon-X, diacetoxyscirpenol, HT-2 toxin, and T-2 toxin in naturally (n = 48) and artificially (n = 30) contaminated cereal grains (wheat, barley, oat, rye triticale) is reported. The method has also been applied to whole fresh maize plant intended for production of maize silage (n = 10). The samples were collected from the harvest years 2006-2010, The results show that DON-3-glucoside and DON co-occurred in cereal grains and, especially in several of the highly contaminated samples, the concentration of the glucoside can be relatively high, corresponding to over 37 % of the DON concentration. The DON-3-glucoside levels in both the naturally and in the artificially grain inoculated with Fusarium were second only to DON, and were generally higher than those of the other tested trichothecenes, which were found at low concentrations in most samples, in many cases even below the detection limit of the method. This argues for the importance of taking DON-3-glucoside into account in the ongoing discussion within the European Community concerning exposure re-evaluations for setting changed values for the tolerable intake for DON. Our results indicate that, in the naturally contaminated grains and in the Fusarium infested cereal grains (winter and spring wheat, oat, triticale), the concentration level of DON-3-glucoside is positively correlated to the DON content. When the DON concentration is high, then the content of DON-3-glucoside will most probably also be high and vice versa.

Attitudes toward organ donation: a survey on Iranian teachers.

BACKGROUND: Organs from brain dead patients are the main source for transplantation. However, in most societies, including Iran, the family consent rate for organ donation is low necessitating improvements in public knowledge. Because teachers' knowledge has an important role to educate the next generations, this study assessed their knowledge and attitudes about brain death and organ donation. METHODS: The present cross-sectional study included, 93 teachers selected from eight schools in Tehran, Iran, in 2009. We used a standardized questionnaire containing items which inquired about knowledge and attitudes of the participants regarding brain death and organ donation. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 37 years and 48 (52%) were males. Eighty-seven (94%) of them had heard or read about organ donation, among whom 91% favored organ donation. The main sources of their information were television, radio, and newspapers. Sixty-five (70%) were willing to donate their own organs after death. Those with lower organ donation desire were in contact with a small number of patients who have chronic diseases, had less trust in organ donation networks and brain death diagnostic tools, expressed less desire to receive an organ, and had a low record of blood donation (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings show that although most teachers had heard or read about brain death and organ donation, and approved of organ donation after death, a lack of exposure to patients with chronic diseases and a distrust of organ donation networks were greater among teachers with a lower desire to participate in this effort. Therefore, building trust in brain death diagnostic systems is necessary together with relevant educational programs.

Causes of family refusal for organ donation.

INTRODUCTION: Family refusal represents a barrier for organ donation together with other cultural and religious factors possible ignorance and clinical obstacles. METHODS: We performed this retrospective study by phone employing our organ procurement unit database, using a list of families of potential organ donors who had refused organ donation. RESULTS: In 2009, 146 potential organ donor families refused donation. We contacted 81 families. The main reason expressed by there families to justify the refusal to donate the deceased's organs was denial and rejection of brain-death criteria (44.4%). Other causes were believing in a miracle (13.6%); fear about organ trade and unknown organ destination (9.9%); religious beliefs (8.6%); insecutrity about the brain-death diagnosis (6.2%); unstable family mood (6.2%); unknown donor wishes about donation (4.9%); belief in body integrity after death (3.7%); and fear of objection by other family members (2.5%). CONCLUSION: Our findings showed several reasons for family refusal for organ donation; among the main cause is poor acceptance of brain death. It seems that increasing the knowledge of people about brain death and organizing strategies to confirm brain death for families are necessary to meet the organ shortage.

Microbial pattern of bronchoalveolar lavage in brain dead donors.

BACKGROUND: We assessed bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cultures of brain dead donors seeking to achieve better donor management and decrease transplant complications. Determining the most common source of some postoperative infections causing morbidity and mortality among lung recipients would help to reach this goal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study was performed on 80 brain dead donors from August 2008 to August 2009. Donors with partial pressure of arterial O2 to the fraction of inspired O2 (PaO2/FIO2)>300 mm Hg and a normal chest x-ray underwent bronchoscopy to obtain a BAL. FINDINGS: The mean donor age was 30±14 years and 50 (63%) were males with 21 (26%) showing a positive history for smoking and 32 (40%) with turbid tracheal secretions. Chest x-ray was abnormal in 49 (61%). Positive culture BAL results were observed among 30 (38%) patients: there were 17 (90%) bacterial and 6 (22%) fungal. Finally, 16 donors (20%) were considered suitable lung donors, allowing 10 lung transplantations. CONCLUSION: Only 20% of donors had acceptable lungs for transplantation. The high rates of positive bacterial and fungal BAL cultures in donors suggest the need for more aggressive critical care management and antibiotic therapy which may be beneficial to prevent future infections in recipients. Further prospective studies are needed to assess the correlation between donor BAL results and posttransplant morbidity and mortality.

Survival of Iranian patients on lung transplant waiting list: is there any difference?

OBJECTIVE: Lung transplantation is the last treatment option for end-stage pulmonary diseases. Reviewing the characteristics of patients on the lung transplant waiting list is a helpful way to evaluate and prioritize the patients in need of special care. Because we have no information about mortality on the lung transplantation waiting list in Iran, the aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics and survival rates of these patients. METHODS: The file of lung transplant candidates listed between 2005 and 2010 were evaluated for patient demographic data, type of disorder, waiting list time, and outcomes of death, transplantation, or alive. RESULTS: The 131 patients on our list in this period revealed a mean age of 37±14 years with 86 (66%) males. The most common disorder among waiting list patients was pulmonary fibrosis (n=52; 40%). Among the 17 (13%) patients who were transplanted, most (35%) suffered from pulmonary fibrosis. The mean waiting time to transplantation was 17.2±11.8 months. Twenty-two patients (7%) died while on the waiting list. The mortality rate was unexpectedly highest among cystic fibrosis patients and then those with bronchiectasis. The mean survival time for all non-transplant patients based on the Kaplan-Meier method was 27.4 months and their 2-year survival rate was 74% based on life tables. CONCLUSION: Although pulmonary fibrosis patients show the poorest survival on lung transplant waiting lists, in other countries, patients with cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis displayed the worst survival on the Iranian list probably due to their poor rehabilitation and sputum evacuation. We concluded that it is necessary for every center to evaluate the characteristics of its patient cohort to match the activity according to the needs.

Concomitant cryptococcosis and burkholderia infection in an asymptomatic lung transplant patient with cystic fibrosis.

Concomitant pulmonary infections with Cryptococcus neoformans and Burkholderia cepacia in lung transplant recipients are very rare and create unique diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas. Herein, we present a double lung transplant patient with cystic fibrosis who was found to have coinfection with these two rare organisms, though he was completely asymptomatic.

Attitudes of medical students about brain death and organ donation.

INTRODUCTION: There have been publications on the attitudes of the general Iranian population and health care personnel about brain death and organ donation; however, there is little information about such attitudes of medical students. In 2006, a survey was conducted in Tehran about the attitudes of medical students in a hospital with a transplantation program. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The general population, health care personnel, and medical students were surveyed, and data were extracted from interviews with 41 medical students. The survey included 35 items about attitudes toward brain death and organ transplantation. RESULTS: Nine students (22.0%) had ever seen a transplant recipient, and 7 (17.1%) had ever seen a brain-dead patient. Thirty-four students (82.9%) agreed with organ donation after brain death. Six students (14.6%) had received information through university lectures, and 40 (97.5%) perceived a need for further information about organ donation and brain death in the university curriculum. Nine students (22.0%) had an organ donor card. CONCLUSION: Most Iranian medical students have neither been exposed to brain death or organ recipients nor received appropriate information about organ donation and transplantation.

Issuing donor cards in a single center in Iran: results of the first 3 years.

INTRODUCTION: Issuing an organ donation card has become a goal for procurement units to solve the organ shortage. The number of issued cards is an index of the attitudes or even actions of communities toward brain-dead donations. In the present study, we have reported the characteristics of issuing organ donation cards in a single organ procurement unit in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study used an organ donation willingness database for 3 years after launching the unit. We used the registration data of the first 3 years of its activity from August 1, 2005, to July 31, 2008. For each organ donation volunteer, we extracted demographic data, organs to be donated, and source of their knowledge about the organ donation card system. RESULTS: During the study period, donor cards were issued to 172,290 volunteers; a monthly mean of 4785 registries. Among the total volunteers, 54.2% were females: with 50.7% between 21 to 30 years, 35.2% with an educational level less than a high school diploma, and 35.7% introduced by their friends. The volunteers were more willing to donate heart, kidney, liver, lung, and tissue donations, respectively. Out of the total number of volunteers, 94.1% were willing to donate all organs. An increasing trend was seen in the donation cards issued during the study period. CONCLUSION: Following 3 years of activity, a single center has issued nearly 200,000 cards. The rate at which organ donor cards are issued is increasing, which puts emphasis on establishment of funding for other organ procurement units. This information may be useful to program the field of brain-dead donations in this country.

Organ retrieval from brain-dead patients by a single organ procurement center in Iran.

INTRODUCTION: The majority of transplantations depend solely on cadaveric organs. In recent years, special focus has been directed toward brain-dead patients in Iran, but it seems that there is limited information regarding the characteristics of cadaveric organ donation in our country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of data of our Organ Procurement Unit (OPU), which is one of the most active organ procurement units in Iran. We incorporated the data on all organ donations from brain-dead patients between 2004 and 2008 into the present study. Demographic characteristics of the patients along with data regarding brain death and organ donation were extracted from already registered data on patients. RESULTS: Among 93 brain-dead patients registered in the database of the OPU, organs were retrieved from 85% (n = 79). Out of the 14 patients from whom no organ was retrieved, the cause for this failure was death before donation in 85% (n = 12). The numbers of donated organs varied between zero and six (mean +/- standard deviation = 3.1 +/- 1.7). The most donated organs in terms of frequency and count were: right kidney (n = 68; 73.1%), left kidney (n = 67; 72%), liver (n = 63; 67.7%), heart (n = 40; 43%), pancreas (n = 5; 5.4%), and lung (n = 4; 4.3%). DISCUSSION: The overall organ retrieval rate from brain-dead patients by this OPU was comparable to that of developed countries; however, we still believe we can improve this rate/scale.

Lung donation and causes behind its failure: a single-center experience.

INTRODUCTION: Brain-dead patients are almost the only source of organs for lung transplantation, and lungs fall within the area of the least harvested organs. As a result, maintaining the highest possible harvest rate is a must for the lung transplantation system. In the present study, the harvest rate of lungs and also the causes of failure to donate the lungs is reported for brain-dead patients in our organ procurement unit. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After going through the brain-death database at our organ procurement unit between 2004 and 2008, we included all 93 brain deaths in this hospital. The lung donation rate was reviewed to examined the causes for failure to donate lungs. RESULTS: From the total brain-dead patients registered in the database, only 4 (4.6%) patients donated their lungs. The causes of failure to donate a lung were not suitable lungs among 78 (83.8%) because they had an unacceptable oxygen challenge test results (<300 mm Hg). Another 11 patients had acceptable oxygen challenge test results, but donation failed in their case as well due to most frequently to pulmonary aspiration. CONCLUSION: In this center, only a small percentage of lungs are appropriate for harvest in brain-dead patients, because many patients' lungs do not meet the criteria with unacceptable oxygen challenge test results. Patients with proper test results may fail to donate lungs due to pulmonary aspiration. More aggressive care of the patients may have an important role in keeping them in good condition and helping to preserve the organs for harvest. For this purpose, further training of intensive care unit staff and physicians are among the suggested steps to enhance the quality of care, which in turn can maximize the lung harvest rate.

Eight years of lung transplantation: experience of the National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases.

BACKGROUND: Lung transplantation has evolved from an experimental procedure to a viable therapeutic option in many countries. In Iran, the first single-lung transplantation was performed in the year 2000, more than 3 decades after the first successful procedure in the world, and the first double-lung transplantation was performed in the year 2006. OBJECTIVE: To describe our 8-year experience in lung transplantation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During 8 years, we performed 24 lung transplantation procedures. Underlying lung diseases were pulmonary fibrosis in 16 patients (66.6%); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 2 (8.3%); bronchiectasis in 5, including 2 patients with cystic fibrosis (20.8%), and alveolar microlithiasis in 1 (4.16%). Data for all patients were collected and analyzed. Procedures were carried out using standardized methods. The induction suppression regimen consisted of cyclosporine and methylprednisolone. Maintenance immunosuppression drugs were cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil, and tapering dosage of prednisolone. Patients were followed up with physical examinations, 3 times a week, as well as and cycle ergometry 3 times a week and spirometry and laboratory tests once a week and chest radiography per needed for up to 3 months posttransplantation. RESULTS: The longest survival time was 7.2 years, in a 60-year-old patient with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Fourteen patients died, 8 as a result of hemodynamic instability and/or hemorrhage, 1 as a result of bone and fat emboli, 3 after cessation of drug and 2 of them after infection. CONCLUSION: Although lung transplantation is a complex procedure it can be performed in developing countries such as Iran.

Deoxynivalenol and other Fusarium toxins in wheat and rye flours on the Danish market.

Information on the contamination of Danish cereals and cereal products with Fusarium toxins is limited and the last survey is from 1984/1985. In the present study, the occurrence of deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV), HT-2 toxin, T-2 toxin and zearalenone (ZON) was investigated in flour of common wheat, durum wheat and rye. The samples were collected from 1998 to 2001 from both mills and the retail market in Denmark. A total of 190 flour samples were analysed for DON and NIV and about 60 samples for HT-2, T-2 toxin and ZON. DON was most frequently detected with an incidence rate of 78% over all samples for all years. The contamination level varied considerably from year to year, and for wheat and rye the highest incidence and DON concentrations were found in samples from the 1998 harvest. There were regular and heavy rainfalls in Denmark during the flowering period of the crops that year, and DON was found in all samples, with mean concentrations in wheat and rye flour of 191 microg kg(-1) (n=14) and 99 microg kg(-1) (n=16), respectively. Comparison of data from each harvest year showed higher contents of DON in samples of wheat (range 20-527 microg kg(-1)) than in rye (20-257 microg kg(-1)). Contents of NIV, HT-2 toxin and ZON in samples of wheat and rye were generally low, and even in positive samples the contents were close to the detection limit of the methods. The T-2 toxin was detected in only a few of the wheat samples and in low amounts. However, the toxin was found in about 50% of the rye samples collected during 1998-2000, with a mean content of 49 microg kg(-1) (n=25). Durum wheat flour showed the highest DON contamination level, and all samples (n=33) collected during 2000 and 2001 contained DON with means and medians above 1100 microg kg(-1). Over 70% of the samples contained more than 500 microg kg(-1) DON, and the highest observed concentration was 2591 microg kg(-1). The concentration of T-2 toxin in durum wheat flour was also high with five of the 10 analysed samples containing more than 100 g kg(-1).