Biomaterial Database

Toxicity assessment for the horseshoe crab Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda collected from Cambodia. 2007

Laymithuna Ngy, and Chun-Fai Yu, and Tomohiro Takatani, and Osamu Arakawa

Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.

In this study, we assessed the toxicity of the horseshoe crab Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda collected from Cambodia within two successive months during rainy (April-May) and dry (December-January) seasons, respectively. Toxicity assessments of the collected specimens by standard mouse bioassay showed marked individual variation, and their toxin profiles by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) revealed tetrodotoxin (TTX) was the main toxin while no paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) were detected. All specimens were toxic and the highest toxicity values were 315, 113, 60, 47, 44 and 38 mouse units (MU)/g in the tissues of hepatic caecum, egg, viscera, muscle, intestine and testis, respectively. Although the current findings showed that the Cambodian C. rotundicauda was a moderately toxic species, they are not suitable for human consumption due to their toxicity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first scientific study on toxic marine seafood ever investigated in Cambodian territorial waters.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008387	Marine Toxins	Toxic or poisonous substances elaborated by marine flora or fauna. They include also specific, characterized poisons or toxins for which there is no more specific heading, like those from poisonous FISHES.	Marine Biotoxins,Phycotoxins
D002160	Cambodia	A country located in Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The capital is Phnom Penh.	Kampuchea,Khmer Republic
D002853	Chromatography, Liquid	Chromatographic techniques in which the mobile phase is a liquid.	Liquid Chromatography
D006737	Horseshoe Crabs	An arthropod subclass (Xiphosura) comprising the North American (Limulus) and Asiatic (Tachypleus) genera of horseshoe crabs.	Crabs, Horseshoe,Limulus,Limulus polyphemus,Tachypleus,Xiphosura,Crab, Horseshoe,Horseshoe Crab,Xiphosuras
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012621	Seasons	Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)	Seasonal Variation,Season,Seasonal Variations,Variation, Seasonal,Variations, Seasonal
D013058	Mass Spectrometry	An analytical method used in determining the identity of a chemical based on its mass using mass analyzers/mass spectrometers.	Mass Spectroscopy,Spectrometry, Mass,Spectroscopy, Mass,Spectrum Analysis, Mass,Analysis, Mass Spectrum,Mass Spectrum Analysis,Analyses, Mass Spectrum,Mass Spectrum Analyses,Spectrum Analyses, Mass
D051379	Mice	The common name for the genus Mus.	Mice, House,Mus,Mus musculus,Mice, Laboratory,Mouse,Mouse, House,Mouse, Laboratory,Mouse, Swiss,Mus domesticus,Mus musculus domesticus,Swiss Mice,House Mice,House Mouse,Laboratory Mice,Laboratory Mouse,Mice, Swiss,Swiss Mouse,domesticus, Mus musculus
D018675	Toxicity Tests	An array of tests used to determine the toxicity of a substance to living systems. These include tests on clinical drugs, foods, and environmental pollutants.	Tests, Toxicity,Test, Toxicity,Toxicity Test