Abstract
Raw or dried gallbladders of cyprinid fish have long been ingested as a traditional medicine in the Asian countries, particularly in China, for ameliorating visual acuity, rheumatism, and general health; however, sporadic poisoning incidences have occurred after their ingestion. The poisoning causes complex symptoms in patients, including acute renal failure, liver dysfunction, paralysis, and convulsions of limbs. The causative substance for the poisoning was isolated, and its basic properties were examined. The purified toxin revealed a minimum lethal dose of 2.6 mg/20 g in mouse, when injected intraperitoneally. The main symptoms were paralysis and convulsions of the hind legs, along with other neurological signs. Liver biopsy of the euthanized mice clearly exhibited hepatocytes necrosis and infiltration of neutrophils and lymphocytes, suggesting the acute dysfunction of the liver. Blood tests disclosed the characteristics of acute renal failure and liver injury. Infrared (IR) spectrometry, fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectrometry, and 1H- and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis indicated, a molecular formula of C27H48O8S, containing a sulfate ester group for the toxin. Thus, we concluded that the structure of carp toxin to be 5α-cyprinol sulfate (5α-cholestane-3α, 7α, 12α, 26, 27-pentol 26-sulfate). This indicated that carp toxin is a nephro- and hepato- toxin, which could be the responsible toxin for carp bile poisoning in humans.
Highlights
Several species of fish are endowed with toxins, such as the pufferfish of the family Tetraodontidae, which possesses a potent neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin (TTX); posing a serious food-hygienic threat from the standpoint of food safety
First specific poisoning, is the one that we tentatively call “Southeast Asia Type”, which is due to the swallowing of raw gallbladders of carp, Cyprinus carpio, and other cyprinid fish, such as grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, which is used as a folk remedy with a traditional belief for ameliorating rheumatism, arthritis, hypotensive, enhancement of visual acuity, cough and shortness of breath, detoxification, and for maintaining body equilibrium
A syndrome of acute renal failure and hepatitis, resulting from the ingestion of raw gallbladders of cyprinid fish, has been reported previously among people living in the rural areas of Taiwan and China, including Hong Kong
Summary
Several species of fish are endowed with toxins, such as the pufferfish of the family Tetraodontidae, which possesses a potent neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin (TTX); posing a serious food-hygienic threat from the standpoint of food safety. The toxin was fat-soluble, and highly toxic in dogs, but much less toxic in mice This poisoning, involved 125 persons, and was accompanied with nervous function disorder, such as may be seen with TTX or paralytic shellfish poison (PSP), and which occurred only in Kyushu District, Japan, from May 1976, to October 1978, symptoms of which were slightly similar to those induced by raw carp gallbladder [14,15]. As this type of food poisoning has not occurred since the causative agents remain unidentified. Blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and results of laboratory tests were normal
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