Four cases of acute liver damage following the ingestion of a sea hare egg

Acute onset of generalized tremors, mild ataxia, and hyperesthesia in a young dog after presumptive ingestion of a giant sea hare belonging to the genus Aplysia

“…The apparent lack of a physical defense against marine predators appears to be balanced by a host of chemical defenses instead, comprised of an array of toxic compounds that have been isolated from various species of sea hares . Depending on the sea hare species and potentially the geographic location, sea hare toxicity cases in humans appear to be divided into 2 distinct presentations, the first consisting primarily of acute neurological disturbances and the second consisting of liver damage without neurological symptoms . Nausea was the only common symptom that accompanied all 6 human cases …”

“…Sorokin suggested that the neurological symptoms were due to a type of naturally occurring bromine in the sea hare's digestive gland, derived from the bromine‐containing diet. Hino et al reported 4 cases of acute liver damage in people following the ingestion of a sea hare egg belonging to the Aplysiidae family. All 4 patients developed nausea and dark urine approximately 12 hours after eating a boiled sea hare egg with some beer and food.…”

“…Even though many different bioactive substances and potential toxins have been isolated from sea hares, [2][3][4][5][6] sea hare toxicosis in mammals is rarely reported. To the author's knowledge, there are only 3 medical case reports of sea hare toxicosis in people [7][8][9] and no case reports in the veterinary literature. The author reports the clinical course and successful treatment of a young dog with acute sea hare intoxication.…”

Acute Liver Damage with Characteristic Apoptotic Hepatocytes by Ingestion of Aplysia kurodai, a Sea Hare.

“…He suggested that these neurological symptoms might be due to subacute bromine intoxication because the sea hare concentrates bromine in its digestive gland from the bromine-containing algal diet (4). Hino et al (3) reported four cases of acute liver damage following the ingestion of a sea hare egg of the aplysiidae family. Laboratory data showed elevations of T-Bil, ALTand LDHlevels but neurological examination was negative in all four cases, as in the present case.…”

“…Sea hares have been eaten and their eggs have been used for food in some local areas of Japan. It is well known that sea hares contain some toxins (1), but there have been few reports regarding humanintoxication (2,3). …”