Surveillance Plan of Lipophilic Marine Biotoxins in Molluscs from the Croatian Coast

Tanja Bogdanovic,Maria Schirone,Pierina Visciano,Nicola Ferri,Mario Rogošić,Federica Di Giacinto,Zoran Rogić,Eddy Listes,Giuseppina Mascilongo,Sandra Petričević,Miriam Berti,Ludovica Di Renzo

doi:10.1007/s12403-021-00424-6

Abstract

In the present study, a 4-year surveillance plan for the detection of lipophilic marine biotoxins in Mytilus galloprovincialis and Callista chione from different aquaculture farms and natural beds along the Central Adriatic coasts of Croatia was reported. The samples were analyzed by a validated LC–MS/MS method in accordance with the Regulation (EU) No 2019/627. Lipophilic marine biotoxins belonging to the okadaic acid group, except for azaspiracids, as well as yessotoxins, were found at different concentrations, always below the maximum limits established by the Regulation (EC) No 853/2004. The seasonal distribution showed the highest values in summer months, and an interannual variability was also observed, probably due to environmental conditions aging on the density of harmful algal blooms. The comprehensive data reported in this study should help the future research in making advancing prediction models along the Eastern Adriatic coast.

Highlights

Marine biotoxins represent a sanitary problem worldwide as sources of foodborne diseases caused by consumption of contaminated molluscs
During the surveillance plan conducted from January 2016 to December 2019, less than 1% of all samples resulted contaminated by lipophilic marine biotoxins belonging to the okadaic acid (OA)-group at concentrations ranging from 25.6 to 87.0 μg/kg, and 65% of samples positive only to OA showed this compound in the esterified form (Table 6)
It is well known that both OA and DTX2 can be found in free or esterified forms (Alves et al 2019) and the different proportion of them could arise from the genetic variability of bivalve molluscs, since the OA esterification is an enzymatic mechanism associated with the detoxification process (Prassopoulou et al 2009)

Summary

Introduction

Marine biotoxins represent a sanitary problem worldwide as sources of foodborne diseases caused by consumption of contaminated molluscs. The human exposure to these toxins can be linked to inhalation or skin contact (Visciano et al 2016). They are produced by harmful algal blooms due to climate and sea surface temperature variations (Young et al 2020) and are distinguished in hydrophilic and lipophilic marine biotoxins (Schirone et al 2011). The azaspiracid poisoning (AZP) is characterized by nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramps occurring 3–18 hours after the consumption of contaminated molluscs, and the healing is within 2–5 days (Doerr et al 2016). Even if PTXs and YTXs were included in DSP group, it has been recently demonstrated that they do not cause diarrhea after oral ingestion, but YTXs show paralytic effects on the cardiac muscle in mice (Bilbao et al 2020) as well as dyspnea, jumping, tremors and spasms after intraperitoneal injection (Visciano et al 2013)

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