Domoic acid--a new toxin in the Croatian Adriatic shellfish toxin profile.

Ivana Ujević,Romana Roje,Jasna Arapov,Ivona Marasović,Živana Ninčević-Gladan,Sanda Skejić

doi:10.3390/molecules15106835

Ivana Ujević, Romana Roje + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules15106835

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Abstract

This is the first study that presents concentrations of domoic acid detected in the whole shellfish tissue from breeding and harvesting areas along the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea during the period 2006 to 2008. Shellfish sample analyses after SAX cleaning procedures, using a UV-DAD-HPLC system, showed the presence of domoic acid in four species. The most prevalent of those species were the blue mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis), followed by European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis), Mediterranean scallop(Pecten jacobaeus) and proteus scallop (Flexopecten proteus). Domoic acid, a potentially lethal phycotoxin that causes amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), was detected for the first time in January 2006 with the highest value of 6.5486 μg g-1 in whole shellfish tissue. Pseudo-nitzschia spp. bloom events preceded these high domoic acid concentrations. According to this study, retention of domoic acid in the blue mussel M. galloprovincialis is more than 42 days. This investigation indicates the first presence of domoic acid in Croatian shellfish, but in concentrations under the regulatory limit (20 μg g-1), therefore shellfish consumption was not found to endanger human health.

Highlights

Occurrence of harmful algal species in the marine environment is a well known cause of human poisoning, mostly by the consumption of contaminated marine products such as shellfish
The seriousness of the threat of amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) has been recognized after a case of poisoning in Canada in 1987 [1] when a toxic episode caused the death of at least three people and more than a hundred exhibited neurological problems after consuming blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from Prince Edward Island contaminated with domoic acid (DA) at levels up to 790 μg g-1 [2]
Domoic acid production was linked to the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries and this species was identified as a causative organism of the poisoning [3]

Summary

Introduction

Occurrence of harmful algal species in the marine environment is a well known cause of human poisoning, mostly by the consumption of contaminated marine products such as shellfish. Domoic acid production was linked to the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries and this species was identified as a causative organism of the poisoning [3]. This species was found to have been involved in DA accumulation in French shellfish [4]. ASP research in the area expanded, with DA subsequently being found in relation to other Pseudo-nitzschia species, including. In addition to the above marine diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, known producers of DA are red algae of the genus

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