Allergenic (sensitization, skin and eye irritation) effects of freshwater cyanobacteria—experimental evidence

Abstract

Many studies have been published on the human health effects of cyanobacterial toxicity. As a public health concern, we have to mention that the development of contact dermatitis, asthmalike symptoms, and symptoms resembling hay fever during bathing in cyanobacterial blooms have been also described. Microcystis aeruginosa, Anabaena flos-aquae, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii are the most common species found in Hungarian freshwaters. A sensitization test on albino guinea pigs, and intradermal reactivity, and occular irritation test on albino rabbits were carried out with freeze-dried algal suspension in physiological salt solution. The sensitivity of guinea pigs is similar to that of humans. Microcystis, Anabaena, Cylindrospermopsis, and Aphanizomenon bloom and strain samples were examined in sensitization and irritation tests and no correlation was found between the toxin content and the allergenic character. The most toxic one (Microcystis aeruginosa) was not the most allergenic sample, but the nontoxic Aphanizomenon was the most allergenic one. The axenic strains were not allergenic at all. The pure microcystin LR was only slightly allergenic even in high concentration (1.5 mg/ml). Water and lipid soluble fractions were obtained by water and chloroform extraction of lyophilized algal suspensions. The chloroform fraction was bound on C18 cartridges and eluted by methanol in nine fractions. Only one of the lipid soluble fractions was skin irritative whereas the strongest irritative effect was shown by the water soluble fraction.

An overview of diversity, occurrence, genetics and toxin production of bloom-forming Dolichospermum (Anabaena) species

“…Toxins are synthesized at all stages of cyanobacterial growth and remain mostly in the cell until their release into waters after cell lysis (Sivonen and Jones, 1999). The toxins produced by Dolichospermum blooms represent a potential threat to environmental and human health (Torokne et al, 2001;Wiegand and Pflugmacher, 2005;Ž egura et al, 2011;Singh and Dhar, 2013;Corbel et al, 2014;Freitas et al, 2014;Smutná et al, 2014;Weirich and Miller, 2014). Cyanotoxins can be bioaccumulated by aquatic invertebrates and have been found in plants and aquatic vertebrates (Codd, 2000;Pflugmacher et al, 2001;Yin et al, 2005;Ibelings and Chorus, 2007;Saqrane et al, 2007;Ettoumi et al, 2011).…”

Toxin mixture in cyanobacterial blooms – a critical comparison of reality with current procedures employed in human health risk assessment

“…The exposure scenarios that follow are therefore artificially divided into the two predominant human exposure routes, namely oral and inhalation exposure. Although dermal exposure and subsequent effects have been described in the literature (Pilotto et al 1997;Soong et al 1992;Stewart et al 2001;Torokne et al 2001), primarily as anecdotal reporting of incidences without a experimental follow-up and/or proof of principle analysis, the cyanobacteria and toxin(s) causally responsible for the reported dermal effects have not been established with the exception of Lyngbya majuscule. The contact with this species causes dermatitis, and accidental oral consumption led to an burning sensation in the mouth (Osborne et al 2001).…”

Microcystin-LR-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in human embryonic kidney and human kidney adenocarcinoma cell lines

“…Furthermore, MCs are reported to have various other effects, including neurotoxicity, genotoxicity and embryotoxicity (Chen et al, 2005). Less severe health effects such as contact dermatitis, asthma-like symptoms and symptoms resembling hay fever have been attributed to MCs (Lankoff et al, 2004;Torokne et al, 2001). The World Health Organization (WHO) defined a drinking water guideline value of 1.0 mg l 21 for MC-LR, revealing the importance of this toxin as a potential public health hazard (WHO, 1998).…”