Abstract
Domoic acid (DA), a neurotoxic amino acid produced by diatoms, is the main cause of amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP). In this work, we propose a very simple and fast analytical method to determine DA in mussel tissue. The method consists of two consecutive extractions and requires no purification steps, due to a reduction of the extraction of the interfering species and the application of very sensitive and selective HILIC-MS/MS method. The procedural method was validated through the estimation of trueness, extract yield, precision, detection, and quantification limits of analytical method. The sample preparation was also evaluated through qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the matrix effect. These evaluations were conducted both on the DA-free matrix spiked with known DA concentration and on the reference certified material (RCM). We developed a very selective LC-MS/MS method with a very low value of method detection limit (9 ng g−1) without cleanup steps.
Highlights
Domoic acid (DA) is a neurotoxic amino acid produced by different algae, including, principally from Pseudo-nitzschia, pennate diatoms
In the literature [6, 7], the amount of mussel tissue was extracted in order to determine DA concentration is usually 1 gram
This key change, combined with the highly sensitive Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS)/MS method developed in our previous study [16], is to our knowledge the most sensitive and selective method to analyze DA in mussel tissue, as demonstrated below
Summary
Domoic acid (DA) is a neurotoxic amino acid produced by different algae, including, principally from Pseudo-nitzschia, pennate diatoms. Due to their filter feeding nature, bivalve mollusks can accumulate high concentration of many contaminants and, during the algal bloom, the accumulation of domoic acid is the main cause of amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) [1]. The toxicity of DA is caused by its chemical structure, which is very similar to that of two neurotransmitter amino acids, L-glutamic acid and kainic acid [2]. DA has an effect on the central nervous system because it has a higher affinity with the receptors than do glutamic acid and kainic acid, causing depolarisation of the neurons [3]. The study of uptake, distribution, transformation, and elimination of ASP phenomena requires very sensitive and selective analytical methods for DA determination
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