First Toxin Profile of Ciguateric Fish in Madeira Arquipelago (Europe)

Abstract

Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is a human foodborne intoxication caused by ingestion of tropical fishes contaminated with the potent polyether toxins known as ciguatoxins (CTXs). These toxins are issued from Gambierdiscus species of dinoflagellates. Herbivorous fish accumulate these toxins in their musculature and viscera after ingesting dinoflagellates. Epidemiological studies showed that CFP has been present in areas between 35 degrees North and 35 degrees South latitude, mainly, Indo-pacific and Caribbean areas, but not in waters closed to European and African continent. In the present paper, a specimen of Seriola dumerili weighing 70 kg and a smaller Seriola fasciata specimen, captured in waters belonging to Selvagens Islands (Madeira Arquipelago), were analyzed. Fishes from this genus were implicated in previous suspected ciguatera poisoning outbreaks in the Portuguese Madeira Arquipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean. Analysis was performed by two approaches, a functional method using cerebellar granule cells and by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) method. The study was carried out in one portion of the tail muscle of Seriola fasciata and five parts of the body of Seriola dumerili (tail muscle, head, ventral muscle, mid muscle, and liver). The functional method consisted in the modification of the inward sodium current in cerebellar granule cells and the chemical method was a high resolution chromatography, which allowed elucidating the toxin profile in the samples. In addition, UPLC-MS technique was optimized and used for detecting and quantifying CTXs for the first time. After fish extraction and clean up, the chromatograms revealed the presence of CTX-1B at 1111.6 m/z, CTX-3C at 1023.5 m/z, a CTX analogue at 1040.6 m/z, and a CTX from the Caribbean or Indic waters at 1141.6 m/z. Therefore, the results obtained in the present paper for both methods confirm, for the first time, the presence of CTX in fish from Madeira Arquipelago.

Gambierdiscus and Ostreopsis: Reassessment of the state of knowledge of their taxonomy, geography, ecophysiology, and toxicology

“…Additionally, reports suggest that while mannitol treatment of recent victims has clear clinical utility in the Pacific (Palafox et al, 1988), it is generally regarded as ineffective in the Caribbean. Interestingly, Otero et al (2010) reported that ciguatoxin analogs similar in mass to both Pacific and Caribbean/ Indian structures were present in fish collected from waters of the Selvagens Islands off the northwest coast of Africa, suggesting that the different ciguatoxin backbones can be found in the same regions. However, the body of work also suggests that a select few, and in some cases, a single ciguatoxin structure dominates toxin profiles, and that the isomers and congeners occur in lesser abundance.…”

Ciguatera fish poisoning: A first epidemic in Germany highlights an increasing risk for European countries

“…A 2011 study estimated the lifetime risk for Cook Islanders to contract ciguatera as >25% (Skinner et al, 2011). In recent years however, not only an increase in the incidence of ciguatera in endemic areas is observed, but also a higher incidence in subtropical regions and a spread of dinoflagellates into temperate climate zones, with ciguatoxic fish occurring near European coastlines and in the Mediterranean sea (Bentur and Spanier, 2007;Otero et al, 2010). Since 2010 at least three ciguatera outbreaks have been reported in the Canary Islands.…”

A roadmap for hazard monitoring and risk assessment of marine biotoxins on the basis of chemical and biological test systems

“…-Lack of standardized CTX material for LC-MS/MS confirmation, i.e., C-Ctx, P-Ctx and I-Ctx, as well as the lack of rapid detection methodologies. As testimony of this global distribution and trade of finfish, the presence of C-CTX-1, as well as P-CTX-1 was confirmed as follow-up analytical confirmations after CFP incidents in Europe (Gouveia et al, 2009;Otero et al, 2010b;Perez-Arellano et al, 2005) or as was recently the case in New York, where intoxications took place following consumption of C-Ctx contaminated barracuda (Graber et al, 2013). Also, in Germany, the first outbreak of ciguatoxin poisoning after eating fish was confirmed recently by analytical methods (BfR, 2013).…”

“…can be found in the Mediterranean (Aligizaki and Nikolaidis, 2008;Aligizaki et al, 2008;Bentur and Spanier, 2007). Ctxs also have been identified in the Atlantic islands west of Africa (Boada et al, 2010;Gouveia et al, 2009;Nunez et al, 2012;Otero et al, 2010b;Perez-Arellano et al, 2005).…”