Abstract
Ciguatera poisoning is a food intoxication associated with the consumption of fish or shellfish contaminated, through trophic transfer, with ciguatoxins (CTXs). In this study, we developed an experimental model to assess the trophic transfer of CTXs from herbivorous parrotfish, Chlorurus microrhinos, to carnivorous lionfish, Pterois volitans. During a 6-week period, juvenile lionfish were fed naturally contaminated parrotfish fillets at a daily dose of 0.11 or 0.035 ng CTX3C equiv. g−1, as measured by the radioligand-receptor binding assay (r-RBA) or neuroblastoma cell-based assay (CBA-N2a), respectively. During an additional 6-week depuration period, the remaining fish were fed a CTX-free diet. Using r-RBA, no CTXs were detectable in muscular tissues, whereas CTXs were measured in the livers of two out of nine fish sampled during exposure, and in four out of eight fish sampled during depuration. Timepoint pooled liver samples, as analyzed by CBA-N2a, confirmed the accumulation of CTXs in liver tissues, reaching 0.89 ng CTX3C equiv. g−1 after 41 days of exposure, followed by slow toxin elimination, with 0.37 ng CTX3C equiv. g−1 measured after the 6-week depuration. These preliminary results, which need to be pursued in adult lionfish, strengthen our knowledge on CTX transfer and kinetics along the food web.
Highlights
Gambierdiscus spp. are benthic dinoflagellates that may produce lipophilic ciguatoxins (CTXs), as well as other bioactive compounds, including maitotoxins (MTXs), gambierone, gambieroxides, gambierol, and gambieric acid [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Ciguatera symptoms include the tingling of body extremities and/or cold allodynia and, in more severe cases, cardiovascular and respiratory insufficiency leading to coma and death [12]
Symptoms may vary geographically according to the dominant toxin profile in each region. Gastrointestinal disorders such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea are predominantly manifested in the Caribbean region, where fish are contaminated by the so-called Caribbean ciguatoxins (C-CTXs)
Summary
Gambierdiscus spp. are benthic dinoflagellates that may produce lipophilic ciguatoxins (CTXs), as well as other bioactive compounds, including maitotoxins (MTXs), gambierone, gambieroxides, gambierol, and gambieric acid [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Primary cause of Ciguatera poisoning (CP) in humans, affecting up to 500,000 fish consumers every year, including rare lethal cases [7,8,9,10]. Chronic neurological manifestations may persist for weeks, months, and in severe cases, years after the first exposure to CTXs [8,16,17]. Symptoms may vary geographically according to the dominant toxin profile in each region. Gastrointestinal disorders such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea are predominantly manifested in the Caribbean region, where fish are contaminated by the so-called Caribbean ciguatoxins (C-CTXs). In the Pacific and Indian Oceans, neurotoxic symptoms may predominate following the consumption of fish containing P-CTXs and I-CTXs, respectively. Neurotoxic symptoms may include hallucinations mostly among victims from the Indian Ocean [8]
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