RESUMEN
On 24 February 1995, six U.S. soldiers serving with the Multinational Force in Haiti became ill after eating a locally caught fish identified as the greater amberjack Seriola dumerili. The victims presented with nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea and abdominal cramps 5-8 hr after consumption. Also present in some victims were numbness in the extremities or perioral region, bradycardia and scalp paresthesia. Patients were treated with i.v. hydration therapy and antiemetics. All recovered without sequelae over the course of 1-3 months. A portion of the cooked fish was obtained for analysis. A semipurified lipid extract was prepared according to standard methods and analyzed for the presence of Na+ channel site 5 binding activity using a brevetoxin receptor binding assay. By this assay, the fish sample contained the equivalent of approximately 20 ng Caribbean ciguatoxin/g flesh. The presence of the major Caribbean ciguatoxin (C-CTX-1) was confirmed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Using the receptor binding assay to monitor activity in TSK and PRP-1 column fractions, two minor toxins were detected in addition to C-CTX-1. One of these minor toxins was more polar, and the other less polar, than C-CTX-1. These data provide firm evidence that a family of C-CTX-1 is responsible for ciguatera in the Caribbean.
Asunto(s)
Intoxicación por Ciguatera , Brotes de Enfermedades , Peces , Enfermedades Transmitidas por los Alimentos/epidemiología , Personal Militar , Adulto , Animales , Encéfalo/citología , Encéfalo/efectos de los fármacos , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Enfermedades Cardiovasculares/inducido químicamente , Membrana Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Membrana Celular/metabolismo , Cromatografía Líquida de Alta Presión , Femenino , Cromatografía de Gases y Espectrometría de Masas , Enfermedades Gastrointestinales/inducido químicamente , Haití/epidemiología , Humanos , Masculino , Enfermedades del Sistema Nervioso/inducido químicamente , Ratas , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
Liquid chromatographic analyses of extracts from shellfish and phytoplankton from the Gulf of Mexico indicated the presence of the marine toxins okadaic acid (0.162 microgram/g shellfish) and domoic acid (2.1 pg/cell phytoplankter). These toxins are causative agents of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) and amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), respectively. The presence of DSP and ASP toxins in a region with no previous record of outbreaks may indicate a potential for human poisoning under conditions appropriate for accumulation of these toxins in shellfish.
Asunto(s)
Éteres Cíclicos/análisis , Ácido Kaínico/análogos & derivados , Toxinas Marinas/análisis , Fitoplancton/química , Mariscos/análisis , Animales , Ácido Kaínico/análisis , Ácido OcadaicoRESUMEN
A chloroform extract of cultured Prorocentrum lima was analyzed for carboxylic polyethers related to okadaic acid (OA). The extract was derivatized with 1-(bromoacetyl)pyrene to give the fluorescent pyrenacyl esters of OA and other carboxylic acids. The resulting mixture was subjected to preparative high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Positive chemical ionization mass spectrometry indicated that four OA-related compounds were present, including two methylated analogues. The fragmentation pattern of at least one of these suggests it is not the previously reported 35-methylokadaic acid.
Asunto(s)
Dinoflagelados/química , Éteres Cíclicos/aislamiento & purificación , Animales , Cromatografía Líquida de Alta Presión , Espectrometría de Masas , Ácido Ocadaico , Islas Virgenes de los Estados UnidosRESUMEN
Emery-Dreifuss dystrophy, an X-linked disorder, is a recently recognized distinct neuromuscular disease with special pediatric implications. We describe three affected boys with the typical early contractures and weakness. Two patients are from a large kindred that includes older affected males and carrier females, both of whom had lethal cardiac disease by mid-adulthood. The atrial arrhythmias are treatable by pacemaker if the diagnosis is established beforehand.