Visciano Pierina, Schirone Maria, Berti Miriam, Milandri Anna, Tofalo Rosanna, Suzzi Giovanna
Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo Teramo, Italy.
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise "G. Caporale" Teramo, Italy.
Front Microbiol. 2016 Jul 6;7:1051. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01051. eCollection 2016.
Harmful algal blooms are natural phenomena caused by the massive growth of phytoplankton that may contain highly toxic chemicals, the so-called marine biotoxins causing illness and even death to both aquatic organisms and humans. Their occurrence has been increased in frequency and severity, suggesting a worldwide public health risk. Marine biotoxins can accumulate in bivalve molluscs and regulatory limits have been set for some classes according to European Union legislation. These compounds can be distinguished in water- and fat-soluble molecules. The first group involves those of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning and Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning, whereas the toxins soluble in fat can cause Diarrheic Shellfish Poisoning and Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning. Due to the lack of long-term toxicity studies, establishing tolerable daily intakes for any of these marine biotoxins was not possible, but an acute reference dose can be considered more appropriate, because these molecules show an acute toxicity. Dietary exposure assessment is linked both to the levels of marine biotoxins present in bivalve molluscs and the portion that could be eaten by consumers. Symptoms may vary from a severe gastrointestinal intoxication with diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps to neurological disorders such as ataxia, dizziness, partial paralysis, and respiratory distress. The official method for the detection of marine biotoxins is the mouse bioassay (MBA) showing some limits due to ethical restrictions and insufficient specificity. For this reason, the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method has replaced MBA as the reference technique. However, the monitoring of algal blooms producing marine biotoxins should be regularly assessed in order to obtain more reliable, accurate estimates of bloom toxicity and their potential impacts.
有害藻华是由浮游植物大量繁殖引起的自然现象，这些浮游植物可能含有剧毒化学物质，即所谓的海洋生物毒素，会导致水生生物和人类患病甚至死亡。其发生频率和严重程度都有所增加，这表明存在全球公共卫生风险。海洋生物毒素可在双壳贝类中蓄积，根据欧盟法规，已对某些类别设定了监管限值。这些化合物可分为水溶性和脂溶性分子。第一类包括麻痹性贝类中毒和失忆性贝类中毒的毒素，而脂溶性毒素可导致腹泻性贝类中毒和神经性贝类中毒。由于缺乏长期毒性研究，无法确定这些海洋生物毒素中任何一种的每日可耐受摄入量，但考虑到这些分子具有急性毒性，急性参考剂量可能更合适。膳食暴露评估既与双壳贝类中存在的海洋生物毒素水平有关，也与消费者可能食用的部分有关。症状可能从严重的胃肠道中毒，如腹泻、恶心、呕吐和腹部绞痛，到神经系统紊乱，如共济失调、头晕、部分瘫痪和呼吸窘迫不等。检测海洋生物毒素的官方方法是小鼠生物测定法（MBA），但由于伦理限制和特异性不足，该方法存在一些局限性。因此，液相色谱 - 质谱法已取代MBA成为参考技术。然而，应定期评估产生海洋生物毒素的藻华监测情况，以便更可靠、准确地估计藻华毒性及其潜在影响。
