Current Situation of Palytoxins and Cyclic Imines in Asia-Pacific Countries: Causative Phytoplankton Species and Seafood Poisoning

Abstract

Among marine biotoxins, palytoxins (PlTXs) and cyclic imines (CIs), including spirolides, pinnatoxins, pteriatoxins, and gymnodimines, are not managed in many countries, such as the USA, European nations, and South Korea, because there are not enough poisoning cases or data for the limits on these biotoxins. In this article, we review unregulated marine biotoxins (e.g., PlTXs and CIs), their toxicity, causative phytoplankton species, and toxin extraction and detection protocols. Due to global warming, the habitat of the causative phytoplankton has expanded to the Asia-Pacific region. When ingested by humans, shellfish that accumulated toxins can cause various symptoms (muscle pain or diarrhea) and even death. There are no systematic reports on the occurrence of these toxins; however, it is important to continuously monitor causative phytoplankton and poisoning of accumulating shellfish by PlTXs and CI toxins because of the high risk of toxicity in human consumers.

Food-Borne Biotoxin Neutralization in Vivo by Nanobodies: Current Status and Prospects

“…For instance, in Canada, food poisoning due to the ingestion of seafood accounts for approximately 7% of all cases. 4 Several reports cover the use of abrin in attempted murders or in a biothreat scenario, and accidental poisonings with Abrus precatorius seeds have been reported. 5 Given the high risk of poisoning to human consumers, it is imperative to continuously strengthen monitoring of biotoxin pathogenicity.…”

“…Globally, over 60,000 poisoning cases per year, with a mortality rate of 1.5%, are associated with toxins produced by microalgae. For instance, in Canada, food poisoning due to the ingestion of seafood accounts for approximately 7% of all cases . Several reports cover the use of abrin in attempted murders or in a biothreat scenario, and accidental poisonings with Abrus precatorius seeds have been reported .…”

The Cyclic Imine Core Common to the Marine Macrocyclic Toxins Is Sufficient to Dictate Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Antagonism

“…Cyclic imine toxins are a globally distributed and emerging family of marine macrocyclic biotoxins comprising seven different main groups of low-molecular-weight organic compounds: the gymnodimines, spirolides, pinnatoxins, pteriatoxins, portimines, prorocentrolides, and spiroprorocentrimine (for reviews, see [1][2][3][4][5]). Even though most of the discovered toxins with a characteristic cyclic imine function were found primarily in shellfish, most of the available evidence strongly indicates that marine dinoflagellates are responsible for the production of cyclic imine toxins.…”

The Temporal Distribution of Cyclic Imines in Shellfish in the Bays of Fangar and Alfacs, Northwestern Mediterranean Region

“…SPXs are polyether compounds that contain a spiro group attached to tricyclic ethers and are mainly produced by Alexandrium ostenfeldii, a thecate dinoflagellate that was first isolated in Iceland and described by Paulsen in 1904 [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. They were identified, for the first time, in mussels off the coast of Nova Scotia (Canada, 1995) [ 17 ], although they are currently found in countries such as Spain, France, Italy, Scotland, Norway, Denmark, Mozambique, Chile, and Asia–Pacific countries [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. The reference compound for this group is 13-desmethyl SPX-C (SPX-1) [ 26 ], which, together with SPX-C and 20-methyl SPX-G, is the most toxic compound [ 8 ].…”

“…This group of toxins is produced by the dinoflagellate Vulcanodinium rugosum [ 9 ] and includes seven analogues whose chemical structure is very similar to that of the SPXs [ 3 ], where pinnatoxin-G (PnTX-G) is the reference compound [ 26 ]. These compounds are currently appearing in oysters ( T. chilensis ), mussels ( M. galloprovincialis ), razor clams (Ensis magnus) , and clams (Ruditapes decussates) from many countries such as Mozambique, Chile, Japan, China, South Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, France, and Spain [ 8 , 19 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”