Antonelli Pietro, Salerno Barbara, Bordin Paola, Peruzzo Arianna, Orsini Massimiliano, Arcangeli Giuseppe, Barco Lisa, Losasso Carmen
Microbial Ecology and Microrganisms Genomics Laboratory, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell'Università, Legnaro, Italy.
Specialistic Aquatic Animal Health Centre, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell'Università, Legnaro, Italy.
Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. 2022 Jan;21(1):719-737. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.12881. Epub 2021 Dec 26.
Tetrodotoxins (TTXs) are a group of potent neurotoxins named after the Tetraodontidae fish family (pufferfish). TTXs have been reported in several animal taxa, both terrestrial and marine. The ingestion of TTX-contaminated flesh can cause serious neurotoxic symptomatology and can eventually lead to death. Traditionally, TTXs have been associated with Asian countries, in particular with pufferfish consumption. However, they have also been reported in bivalve mollusks farmed in the Pacific area and, recently, in European seas. In Europe, different countries have reported TTXs, especially those bordering the Mediterranean Sea. As a consequence, in 2017 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released an opinion with reference to TTX present in marine gastropods and bivalves, proposing a safety limit of 44 µg/kg TTXs in shellfish meat, below which no adverse effects should be observed in humans. Nevertheless, this limit has been exceeded on many occasions in European shellfish and, while for bivalves there have been no registered human intoxications, that is not the case for marine gastropods. However, TTXs have not yet been included in the list of marine biotoxins officially monitored in live bivalve mollusks within the European Union (EU). Thus, the aims of this manuscript are to discuss the increasing occurrence of TTXs in live bivalve mollusks from European sea waters, to acknowledge the still ongoing knowledge gaps that should be covered and to stimulate constructive debate on the eventuality of adopting a shared regulatory context, at least in the EU, for monitoring and managing this potential threat to food safety.
河豚毒素（TTXs）是一组强效神经毒素，以鲀科鱼类（河豚）命名。在陆地和海洋的多种动物分类群中都有河豚毒素的报道。摄入受河豚毒素污染的鱼肉会导致严重的神经中毒症状，最终可能导致死亡。传统上，河豚毒素与亚洲国家有关，特别是与河豚消费有关。然而，在太平洋地区养殖的双壳贝类中也有报道，最近在欧洲海域也有发现。在欧洲，不同国家都报告了河豚毒素的存在，尤其是那些濒临地中海的国家。因此，2017年欧洲食品安全局（EFSA）发布了一份关于海洋腹足类动物和双壳贝类中存在的河豚毒素的意见，提议贝类肉中河豚毒素的安全限量为44微克/千克，低于该限量预计对人体不会产生不良影响。尽管如此，欧洲贝类中多次超过了这一限量，虽然双壳贝类没有记录到人类中毒事件，但海洋腹足类动物并非如此。然而，河豚毒素尚未被列入欧盟官方监测的活双壳贝类海洋生物毒素清单。因此，本手稿的目的是讨论欧洲海域活双壳贝类中河豚毒素出现频率的增加，认识到仍存在的知识空白，并激发关于最终采用共同监管框架（至少在欧盟）来监测和管理这一食品安全潜在威胁的建设性辩论。
