brevetoxin and azaspiracid

Microalgae, particularly those from the lineage Dinoflagellata, are very well-known for their ability to produce phycotoxins that may accumulate in the marine food chain and eventually cause poisoning in humans. This includes toxins accumulating in shellfish, such as saxitoxin, okadaic acid, yessotoxins, azaspiracids, brevetoxins, and pinnatoxins. Other toxins, such as ciguatoxins and maitotoxins, accumulate in fish, where, as is the case for the latter compounds, they can be metabolized to even more toxic metabolites. On the other hand, much less is known about the chemical nature of compounds that are toxic to fish, the so-called ichthyotoxins. Despite numerous reports of algal blooms causing massive fish kills worldwide, only a few types of compounds, such as the karlotoxins, have been proven to be true ichthyotoxins. This review will highlight marine microalgae as the source of some of the most complex natural compounds known to mankind, with chemical structures that show no resemblance to what has been characterized from plants, fungi, or bacteria. In addition, it will summarize algal species known to be related to fish-killing blooms, but from which ichthyotoxins are yet to be characterized.

Topics: Animals; Ciguatoxins; Dinoflagellida; Food Contamination; Humans; Marine Toxins; Molecular Structure; Mollusk Venoms; Oxocins; Spiro Compounds

Topics: Animals; Chromatography, Liquid; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; Kainic Acid; Marine Toxins; Mice; Okadaic Acid; Oxocins; Risk Management; Saxitoxin; Shellfish; Shellfish Poisoning; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; Spiro Compounds; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Tetrodotoxin

A liquid chromatography quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry method with fast polarity switching and a scheduled multiple reaction monitoring algorithm mode was developed for multiclass screening and identification of lipophilic marine biotoxins in bivalve molluscs. A major advantage of the method is that it can detect members of all six groups of lipophilic marine biotoxins [okadaic acid (OA), yessotoxins (YTX), azaspiracids (AZA), pectenotoxins (PTX), cyclic imines (CI), and brevetoxins (PbTx)], thereby allowing quantification and high confidence identification from a single liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) injection. An enhanced product ion (EPI) library was constructed after triggered collection of data via information-dependent acquisition (IDA) of EPI spectra from standard samples. A separation method for identifying 17 target toxins in a single analysis within 12min was developed and tested. Different solid phase extraction sorbents, the matrix effect (for oyster, scallop, and mussel samples), and stability of the standards also were evaluated. Matrix-matched calibration was used for quantification of the toxins. The limits of detection were 0.12-13.6μg/kg, and the limits of quantification were 0.39-45.4μg/kg. The method was used to analyze 120 shellfish samples collected from farming areas along the coast of China, and 7% of the samples were found to be contaminated with toxins. The library search identified PbTx-3, YTX, OA, PTX2, AZA1, AZA2, and desmethylspirolide C (SPX1). Overall, the method exhibited excellent sensitivity and reproducibility, and it will have broad applications in the monitoring of lipophilic marine biotoxins.

Topics: Animals; Bivalvia; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Food Analysis; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Humans; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; Imines; Limit of Detection; Macrolides; Marine Toxins; Mollusk Venoms; Okadaic Acid; Ostreidae; Oxocins; Pectinidae; Pyrans; Reference Standards; Reproducibility of Results; Shellfish; Solid Phase Extraction; Spiro Compounds; Tandem Mass Spectrometry