First report on azaspiracid and yessotoxin groups detection in French shellfish

Abstract

The French Phytoplankton and Phycotoxins monitoring network (REPHY) recently found positive or dubious negative shellfish samples using lipophilic toxins mouse bioassay. These samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography (LC) in combination with mass spectrometry (MS) to detect the following toxins: okadaic acid (OA), dinophysistoxins (DTXs), pectenotoxins (PTXs), azaspiracids (AZAs), yessotoxins (YTXs), spirolides (SPXs) and gymnodimines (GYMs). Over the 2006-2007 period, chemical analyses revealed various lipophilic toxin profiles according to shellfish sampling locations. In addition to OA and/or PTX-2 and their derivatives, several other compounds were found for the first time in France: (1) during the summer of 2006, AZA-1 and AZA-2 in Queen scallops (Aequipecten opercularis) from Northern Brittany; (2) during the summer of 2007, YTX and its major metabolites (45-hydroxy-YTX, homo-YTX, carboxy-YTX) in shellfish from the Mediterranean coast. Regarding YTX-group, the toxin profiles evolution in mussels during summer showed that: (i) the carboxy-YTX depuration rate was much slower than the YTX and 45-hydroxy-YTX ones; (ii) the homo-YTX concentration, which was initially very weak, increased significantly during the last depuration phase, which seems to reveal a YTX-group high metabolisation level in mussels. This paper reports for the first time on AZA and YTX-groups detection in French shellfish.

Amphidoma languida (Amphidomatacea, Dinophyceae) with a novel azaspiracid toxin profile identified as the cause of molluscan contamination at the Atlantic coast of southern Spain

“…There, AZA-1 and AZA-2 are the dominating compounds in shellfish and plankton samples (James et al, 2002;Amzil et al, 2008;Krock et al, 2009) corresponding to the toxin profile of Azadinium spinosum as the presumably most important AZA-producing species in the area (Salas et al, 2011). The AZA profile in Andalusian shellfish, with a lack of AZA-1, the predominance of AZA-2, and the presence of a second compound (identified here as the new AZA-43), thus provides compelling evidence for the involvement of another AZA source organism.…”

“…In Europe, AZA have been reported in several adjacent countries of the North Sea such as Norway, Denmark, the UK, and Sweden (James et al, 2002;Torgersen et al, 2008;Krock et al, 2013). Azaspiracids have also been reported from the Atlantic coasts of various other European countries including France (Amzil et al, 2008) and Portugal and the Atlantic coast of NW Africa (Taleb et al, 2006). With respect to Spain there is only one report of AZA identified in bivalves (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from Galicia, which is the main production area of mussels along the European Atlantic coast.…”

Azadinium poporum from the Argentine Continental Shelf, Southwestern Atlantic, produces azaspiracid-2 and azaspiracid-2 phosphate

“…been documented in shellfish from many coastal regions of western Europe (James et al, 2002;Brañ a Magdalena et al, 2003;Furey et al, 2003;Amzil et al, 2008), northern Africa (Taleb et al, 2006;Elgarch et al, 2008), China (Yao et al, 2010), and North America (Trainer et al, 2013). In addition, AZA have been found in Japanese sponges (Ueoka et al, 2009) and Scandinavian crabs (Torgersen et al, 2008).…”

Dissolved azaspiracids are absorbed and metabolized by blue mussels (Mytilus edulis)

“…AZAs in aquatic organisms have been found in Europe, Africa and more recently in the Americas and Japan (Alvarez et al, 2010;Amzil et al, 2008;Furey et al, 2010;Klontz et al, 2009;Magdalena et al, 2003;Taleb et al, 2006;Twiner et al, 2008;Ueoka et al, 2009), indicating a worldwide phenomenon. More than 30 AZA analogs have been reported .…”