蛤毒素的研究进展

蛤毒素是由有毒甲藻产生的脂溶性毒素,已经确认的同系物有14种。在不同国家的不同贝类中蛤毒素组成特征和含量均存在差异。蛤毒素的小鼠腹腔注射毒性大于经口毒性。目前,国际上蛤毒素的食用安全限量标准尚不统一。蛤毒素的总量可用生物法测定,每种蛤毒素组分的含量可用液相色谱一质谱法测试。蛤毒素的酶联免疫测定方法正在研究阶段。我国关于蛤毒素的研究较少,建议加强对毒素的生物学特征及代谢规律研究。     

Neurotoxins from marine dinoflagellates: a brief review

Dinoflagellates are not only important marine primary producers and grazers, but also the major causative agents of harmful algal blooms. It has been reported that many dinoflagellate species can produce various natural toxins. These toxins can be extremely toxic and many of them are effective at far lower dosages than conventional chemical agents. Consumption of seafood contaminated by algal toxins results in various seafood poisoning syndromes: paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP), amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP), ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) and azaspiracid shellfish poisoning (ASP). Most of these poisonings are caused by neurotoxins which present themselves with highly specific effects on the nervous system of animals, including humans, by interfering with nerve impulse transmission. Neurotoxins are a varied group of compounds, both chemically and pharmacologically. They vary in both chemical structure and mechanism of action, and produce very distinct biological effects, which provides a potential application of these toxins in pharmacology and toxicology. This review summarizes the origin, structure and clinical symptoms of PSP, NSP, CFP, AZP, yessotoxin and palytoxin produced by marine dinoflagellates, as well as their molecular mechanisms of action on voltage-gated ion channels.