Automated Patch Clamp for the Detection of Tetrodotoxin in Pufferfish Samples.

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a marine toxin responsible for many intoxications around the world. Its presence in some pufferfish species and, as recently reported, in shellfish, poses a serious health concern. Although TTX is not routinely monitored, there is a need for fast, sensitive, reliable, and simple methods for its detection and quantification. In this work, we describe the use of an automated patch clamp (APC) system with Neuro-2a cells for the determination of TTX contents in pufferfish samples. The cells showed an IC50 of 6.4 nM for TTX and were not affected by the presence of muscle, skin, liver, and gonad tissues of a Sphoeroides pachygaster specimen (TTX-free) when analysed at 10 mg/mL. The LOD achieved with this technique was 0.05 mg TTX equiv./kg, which is far below the Japanese regulatory limit of 2 mg TTX equiv./kg. The APC system was applied to the analysis of extracts of a Lagocephalus sceleratus specimen, showing TTX contents that followed the trend of gonads > liver > skin > muscle. The APC system, providing an in vitro toxicological approach, offers the advantages of being sensitive, rapid, and reliable for the detection of TTX-like compounds in seafood.

Evaluation of Toxicity Equivalency Factors of Tetrodotoxin Analogues with a Neuro-2a Cell-Based Assay and Application to Puffer Fish from Greece.

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent marine neurotoxin involved in poisoning cases, especially through the consumption of puffer fish. Knowledge of the toxicity equivalency factors (TEFs) of TTX analogues is crucial in monitoring programs to estimate the toxicity of samples analyzed with instrumental analysis methods. In this work, TTX analogues were isolated from the liver of a Lagocephalus sceleratus individual caught on South Crete coasts. A cell-based assay (CBA) for TTXs was optimized and applied to the establishment of the TEFs of 5,11-dideoxyTTX, 11-norTTX-6(S)-ol, 11-deoxyTTX and 5,6,11-trideoxyTTX. Results showed that all TTX analogues were less toxic than the parent TTX, their TEFs being in the range of 0.75-0.011. Then, different tissues of three Lagocephalus sceleratus individuals were analyzed with CBA and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The obtained TEFs were applied to the TTX analogues' concentrations obtained by LC-MS/MS analysis, providing an indication of the overall toxicity of the sample. Information about the TEFs of TTX analogues is valuable for food safety control, allowing the estimation of the risk of fish products to consumers.

Detection of Ciguatoxins and Tetrodotoxins in Seafood with Biosensors and Other Smart Bioanalytical Systems.

The emergence of marine toxins such as ciguatoxins (CTXs) and tetrodotoxins (TTXs) in non-endemic regions may pose a serious food safety threat and public health concern if proper control measures are not applied. This article provides an overview of the main biorecognition molecules used for the detection of CTXs and TTXs and the different assay configurations and transduction strategies explored in the development of biosensors and other biotechnological tools for these marine toxins. The advantages and limitations of the systems based on cells, receptors, antibodies, and aptamers are described, and new challenges in marine toxin detection are identified. The validation of these smart bioanalytical systems through analysis of samples and comparison with other techniques is also rationally discussed. These tools have already been demonstrated to be useful in the detection and quantification of CTXs and TTXs, and are, therefore, highly promising for their implementation in research activities and monitoring programs.

A fast magnetic bead-based colorimetric immunoassay for the detection of tetrodotoxins in shellfish.

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin responsible for many food poisoning incidents and some fatalities. Although mainly associated with the consumption of pufferfish, in recent years, TTX has been found in shellfish, particularly in Europe. In this work, a magnetic bead (MB)-based colorimetric immunoassay was applied to the detection of TTX in Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas), razor clams (Solen marginatus) and mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis). Effective LODs (eLODs) for TTX of 1 µg/kg in oysters and razor clams and 3.3 µg/kg in mussels, significantly below the EFSA guidance threshold (44 µg/kg), were obtained. The strategy was applied to the analysis of naturally-contaminated Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and mussels (Mytilus edulis) from the Netherlands, and TTX was detected in all samples. The approach, which takes less than 1.5 h, proved to be useful as a rapid and simple method to detect TTX, support shellfish safety and protect consumers.