Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026
A Toxicological and Ecotoxicological Assay Based on Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) Hemocytes Motility
Published on: December 13, 2024
Biomarkers of neurotoxic shellfish poisoning
Ann Abraham1, Steven M Plakas, Leanne J Flewelling
1Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, P.O. Box 158, 1 Iberville Drive, Dauphin Island, AL 36528-0158, USA. ann.abraham@fda.hhs.gov
Abstract:
Urine specimens from patients diagnosed with neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP) were examined for biomarkers of brevetoxin intoxication. Brevetoxins were concentrated from urine by using solid-phase extraction (SPE), and analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Urine extracts were fractionated by LC, and fractions analyzed for brevetoxins by ELISA. In subsequent LC-MS/MS analyses, several brevetoxin metabolites of B-type backbone were identified, with elution profiles consistent with those of ELISA. The more abundant brevetoxin metabolites in urine were characterized structurally by LC-MS/MS. With the exception of BTX-3, brevetoxin metabolites in urine differed from those found in shellfish and in shellfish meal remnants. Proposed structures of these major urinary metabolites are methylsulfoxy BTX-3, 27-epoxy BTX-3, and reduced BTX-B5. BTX-3 was found in all specimens examined. BTX-3 concentrations in urine, as determined by LC-MS/MS, correlated well with composite toxin measurements by ELISA (r(2)=0.96). BTX-3 is a useful biomarker for confirmation of clinical diagnosis of NSP.
