Spatiotemporal distribution of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins in shellfish from Argentine Patagonian coast (original) (raw)

Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in Margarita Island, Venezuela

Revista de biología tropical, 2004

A severe outbreak of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) occurred in Manzanillo and Guayacán, northwestern coast of Margarita Island, Venezuela, between August and October 1991. A bloom of dinoflagellates including Prorocentrum gracile, Gymnodinium catenatum and Alexandrium tamarense seemed to be responsible for this outbreak. Levels of PSP toxins in mussels (Perna perna) exceeded the international safety limit of saxitoxin, 80 microg STX/100 microg meat. PSP toxin values varied between 2548 and 115 microg STX/100 g meat in Manzanillo, and between 1422 and 86 microg STX/100 g meat in Guayacán. At both locations, the highest levels were detected in August, when 24 patients exhibited typical symptoms of PSP toxicity after consuming cooked mussels (16 required hospitalization). A high pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure was recently used on the 1991 samples. The major toxin detected in samples of both locations was decarbamoyl saxitoxin (dcSTX), but low concentrations of s...

Paralytic shellfish toxins and associated toxin profiles in bivalve mollusc shellfish from Argentina

Harmful Algae, 2020

Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning is a potentially fatal syndrome, resulting from the filter-feeding activities of marine molluscs accumulating harmful neurotoxins naturally occurring in microalgae. Outbreaks are well recognised throughout most regions of the world, but with the highest levels of toxicity to date recorded in mussels from Argentina. Whilst toxicity has been documented for selected outbreaks over the years, testing has been conducted using a mouse bioassay. Consequently there is a need to establish baseline data utilising modern chemical detection methods, which also facilitate the quantification of individual toxin analogues, giving useful data on toxin profiles as well as total sample toxicity. In this study, 151 shellfish samples harvested from the marine waters of Argentina between 1980 and 2012 were subjected to analysis by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection, since Jan 2019 the European Union reference method for PSP determination. Total PST concentrations were found to vary enormously throughout the coastline of Argentina, with higher levels of toxins found in the central regions of Rio Negro and Chubut. Toxin profiles in terms of molar percentage of total concentrations were dominated by the gonyautoxins GTX1&4 and GTX2&3, followed by C1&2, STX and dcGTX2&3, with minor levels of other analogues previously not reported in the country. Profiles were found to vary significantly, with statistical clusters of profile types associated with a wide range of factors, including species, spatial and temporal differences, as well as likely source microalgae species and potential toxin transformation pathways. Overall application of the chemical detection method has confirmed both the significant risk to shellfish consumers in Argentina with periodic outbreaks of extremely high toxin levels and a large variability in toxin profiles relating in part to previously reported variabilities in microalgal toxin content. The study has demonstrated the potential for the method to systematically study the relationships between toxicity, toxin profile, source phytoplankton and other environmental factors. 2006). Species identified include the autumnal Gymnodinium catenatum first recorded in the warm shelf waters around Mar del Plata,

Paralytic shellfish toxins in Argopecten purpuratus and Semimytilus algosus from northern Chile

Aquatic Living Resources, 2009

Within the framework of the Chilean molluscan shellfish safety program, blooms of Alexandrium were detected in several aquaculture sites in northern Chile. An outbreak of Alexandrium was detected in May 2006 in Mejillones Bay. Wild and cultured phytoplankton and shellfish samples from this bloom were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescent detection (HPLC-FD). Neither phytoplankton net tows samples nor an Alexandrium culture started from the bloom were found to contain PSP toxins at detectable levels. The shellfish, however, showed the presence of C2, GTX2, GTX3 and dcGTX2. Two new PSP episodes were recorded in June 2006 in Guanaqueros and Tongoy Bays. In these instances, shellfish samples from the two bays were analyzed by mouse bioassay and HPLC-FD, showing PSP toxicities that ranged from 27 to 34 µg STX eq 100 g −1 and a toxin profile mainly characterized by the presence of STX, GTX2 and GTX3. Differences between toxin profiles in Mejillones Bay and the two other locations suggest that, in the area, this kind of toxicity is probably produced by different regional populations or strains of the genus Alexandrium other than Alexandrium catenella, since the toxin profile and optimal environmental conditions for this species are noticeably different from those recorded in the proliferations from northern Chile. This paper therefore presents the first report of this kind of toxicity from an area between parallels 13 • 55'S and 33 • 5'S, comprising the subtropical zone of the southeastern Pacific Ocean. Results suggest that, as in the northern Pacific coastal area of America, PSP toxicity may be widely distributed on the southern Pacific coast.