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. 2020 Nov 3;12(11):698.
doi: 10.3390/toxins12110698.

Rapid Domoic Acid Depuration in the Scallop Argopecten purpuratus and Its Transfer from the Digestive Gland to Other Organs

Gonzalo Álvarez  1   2   3 , José Rengel  1 , Michael Araya  2 , Francisco Álvarez  1 , Roberto Pino  1   3 , Eduardo Uribe  1   3 , Patricio A Díaz  4 , Araceli E Rossignoli  5 , Américo López-Rivera  6 , Juan Blanco  5
Affiliations

Rapid Domoic Acid Depuration in the Scallop Argopecten purpuratus and Its Transfer from the Digestive Gland to Other Organs

Gonzalo Álvarez et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

Domoic acid (DA), the main toxin responsible for Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning, frequently affects the marine resources of Chile and other countries across the South Pacific, thus becoming a risk for human health. One of the affected resources is the scallop Argopecten purpuratus. Even though this species has a high commercial importance in Northern Chile and Peru, the characteristics of its DA depuration are not known. In this work, the DA depuration was studied by means of two experiments: one in controlled (laboratory) and another in natural conditions. All organs of A. purpuratus depurated the toxin very quickly in both experiments. In some organs, an increase or a very small decrease of toxin was detected in the early depuration steps. Several models were used to describe this kinetics. The one that included toxin transfer between organs and independent depuration from each organ was the model that best fit the data. It seems, therefore, that the DA in this species is quickly transferred from the digestive gland to all other organs, which release it into the environment. Physiological differences in the two experiments have been shown to have some effect on the depuration from each organ but the actual reasons are still unknown.

Keywords: ASP; Northern Chile; amnesic shellfish poisoning; detoxification; modeling; toxicokinetics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Weight of organs during the laboratory depuration experiment where Argopecten purpuratus were fed only the non-toxic Isochrysis galbana. Dots are the observed weights (n = 3) and triangles are their corresponding means. Total = all soft tissues, DG = digestive gland, Go =gonad + foot, Mu = adductor muscle + kidneys, Ma = mantle, Gi = gills.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Tissue-specific domoic acid (DA) burden in the laboratory depuration experiment where Argopecten purpuratus were fed only the non-toxic Isochrysis galbana. Dots are the observed burden (n = 3), and triangles are their corresponding means. Total = all soft tissues, DG = digestive gland, Go = gonad + foot, Mu = adductor muscle + kidneys, Ma = mantle, Gi = gills.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Organ-specific DA concentration in the laboratory depuration experiment where Argopecten purpuratus were fed only non-toxic Isochrysys galbana, dots are the observed burden (n = 3) and triangles are their corresponding means. Total = all soft tissues, DG = digestive gland, Go = gonad + foot, Mu = adductor muscle + kidneys, Ma = mantle, Gi = gills.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Weight of Argopecten purpuratus organs during the depuration experiment where shellfish were incubated in the field under natural conditions. Dots are the observed weights, and triangles are their corresponding means. Total = all soft tissues, DG = digestive gland, Go = gonad + foot, Mu = adductor muscle + kidneys, Ma = mantle, Gi = gills.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Domoic acid burden of Argopecten purpuratus organs during the depuration experiment where shellfish were maintained under natural conditions. Dots are the observed burden and triangles are their corresponding means. Total = all soft tissues, DG = digestive gland, Go = gonad + foot, Mu = adductor muscle + kidneys, Ma = mantle, Gi = gills.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Organ-specific DA concentration in the field depuration experiment where Argopecten purpuratus were maintained under natural conditions. Dots are the observed burden, and triangles are their corresponding means. Total = all soft tissues, DG = digestive gland, Go = gonad + foot, Mu = adductor muscle + kidneys, Ma = mantle, Gi = gills.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Multi-compartment model fit to the toxin burden data obtained in the DA depuration experiment in natural conditions. Small dots are the obtained data, large dots are their means, and lines are the output of the model. DG = digestive gland, Go = gonad + foot, Mu = adductor muscle + kidneys, Ma = mantle, Gi = gills.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Multi-compartment model fit the toxin burden data obtained in the domoic acid depuration experiment done in the laboratory. Small dots are the obtained data; large dots are their means, and lines are the output of the model. DG = digestive gland, Go = gonad + foot, Mu = adductor muscle + kidneys, Ma = mantle, Gi = gills.
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