New Insights into the Occurrence and Toxin Profile of Ciguatoxins in Selvagens Islands (Madeira, Portugal)

Abstract

Ciguatoxins (CTXs), endemic from tropical and subtropical regions of the Pacific and Indian Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, have caused several human poisonings during the last decade in Europe. Ciguatera fish poisonings (CFP) in Madeira and Canary Islands appear to be particularly related with consumption of fish caught close to Selvagens Islands, a Portuguese natural reserve composed of three small islands that harbor high fish biomass. In this study, fish specimens considered as potential vectors of CTXs were caught in Madeira and Selvagens archipelagos for toxins determination via sensitive liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (LC–MS/MS). CTXs were found in most of the fish samples from Selvagens and none from Madeira. Caribbean ciguatoxin-1 (C-CTX1) was the only toxin congener determined, reaching the highest value of 0.25 µg C-CTX1 kg−1 in a 4.6 kg island grouper (Mycteroperca fusca). This study indicates that a diversity of fish from different trophic levels contains CTXs, Selvagens appear to be one of the most favorable locations for CTXs food web transfer and finally, this study highlights the need of further research based on intensive environmental and biological sampling on these remote islands.

An Attempt to Characterize the Ciguatoxin Profile in Seriola fasciata Causing Ciguatera Fish Poisoning in Macaronesia

“…Identification is based on the high sensitivity detection of the sodium adducts and confirmation is by monitoring ions generated by several water losses and specific fragments. This approach has been used for C-CTXs, in particular C-CTX1, which have been recently identified as the main analogue responsible for the CFP in these areas [22,24]. The possible presence of Pacific ciguatoxins (P-CTXs) was also explored by using non-certified standards for 10 different P-CTXs analogues (kindly provided by Prof. Yasumoto).…”

“…The project is focused on the characterization of the risk of ciguatera fish poisoning in Europe, with particular emphasis in those EU areas from the eastern Atlantic where the problem had been already reported. The most recent results obtained on the characterization of the risk in the Canary Islands and Madeira, show that C-CTX1 seems to be the main analogue responsible of the contamination in this geographical region, although the presence of other C-CTX analogues is also suspected [22]. The main limitation to advance the characterization of CTXs is the lack of reference materials commercially available and in particular for C-CTXs.…”

Toxicity Characterisation of Gambierdiscus Species from the Canary Islands

“…CFP is widespread in tropical and sub-tropical marine areas, including the Caribbean Sea, Indian Ocean, Polynesia and other areas of the Pacific Ocean [11]. However, over the past decade, an increase in the incidence of CFP in areas where ciguatera is endemic [12][13][14] and several outbreaks of ciguatera in more temperate regions, such as Madeira [15][16][17] and the Canary Islands (NE Atlantic Ocean) [18], suggest an expansion of this disease is occurring.…”

Liquid Chromatography Coupled to High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry for the Confirmation of Caribbean Ciguatoxin-1 as the Main Toxin Responsible for Ciguatera Poisoning Caused by Fish from European Atlantic Coasts

“…Ciguatoxins (CTXs) are lipophilic cyclic polyethers, which are stable to temperature and accumulate in seafood. CP is endemic in temperate waters of the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea and was recently detected in the Northeast Atlantic [2][3][4][5][6]. A main difficulty in advancing CP research is the lack of reference materials of these toxins and the numerous toxic analogues present in the toxic samples [7,8].…”