Publications by authors named "A Gago-Martinez"
Article Synopsis
- - Ciguatera Poisoning (CP) is caused by eating fish that carry harmful natural toxins called ciguatoxins (CTXs), which are spreading globally and raising health concerns.
- - Identifying CTXs is challenging due to the unavailability of reference materials, affecting research and regulatory efforts to manage the risks associated with these toxins.
- - A study in the Canary Islands revealed high levels of CTXs in amberjack fish, identifying a new algal toxin linked to C-CTX5 using advanced detection methods, indicating toxin levels significantly exceeded FDA safety levels.
Ciguatoxins (CTXs) are marine neurotoxins that cause ciguatera poisoning (CP), mainly through the consumption of fish. The distribution of CTXs in fish is known to be unequal. Studies have shown that viscera accumulate more toxins than muscle, but little has been conducted on toxicity distribution in the flesh, which is the main edible part of fish, and the caudal muscle is also most commonly targeted for the monitoring of CTXs in the Canary Islands.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Ciguatera Poisoning is a growing concern in the east Atlantic, with incomplete knowledge about the types of ciguatoxin present in the area.
- The challenge in studying this poisoning comes from a lack of reference materials and limited contaminated fish samples, making it hard to analyze ciguatoxins.
- The researchers created a new analytical method using capillary liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry, successfully identifying C-CTX1 as the main ciguatoxin and discovering several minor analogues.
A significant spread and prevalence of algal toxins and, in particular, marine biotoxins have been observed worldwide over the last decades. Marine biotoxins are natural contaminants produced during harmful algal blooms being accumulated in seafood, thus representing a threat to human health. Significant progress has been made in the last few years in the development of analytical methods able to evaluate and characterize the different toxic analogs involved in the contamination, Liquid Chromatography coupled to different detection modes, including Mass Spectrometry, the method of choice due to its potential for separation, identification, quantitation and even confirmation of the different above-mentioned analogs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Given the recent detection of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in bivalve molluscs but the absence of a full collaborative validation study for TTX determination in a large number of shellfish samples, interlaboratory assessment of method performance was required to better understand current capabilities for accurate and reproducible TTX quantitation using chemical and immunoassay methods.
Objective: The aim was to conduct an interlaboratory study with multiple laboratories, using results to assess method performance and acceptability of different TTX testing methods.
Methods: Homogenous and stable mussel and oyster materials were assessed by participants using a range of published and in-house detection methods to determine mean TTX concentrations.