Toxins 2012, 4(1), 1-14; doi:10.3390/toxins4010001
Article

Investigations into the Toxicology of Spirolides, a Group of Marine Phycotoxins

Rex Munday 1 email, Michael A. Quilliam 2 email, Patricia LeBlanc 2 email, Nancy Lewis 2 email, Pamela Gallant 2 email, Sandra A. Sperker 2 email, H. Stephen Ewart 2,† email and Shawna L. MacKinnon 2,* email
1 AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Private Bag, Hamilton 3123, New Zealand 2 National Research Council of Canada, Institute for Marine Biosciences, 1411 Oxford Street Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3Z1, Canada † Current address: Novaceutics Consulting, 6501 Oak St. Halifax, Nova Scotia B3L 1H5, Canada.
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 9 November 2011; in revised form: 13 December 2011 / Accepted: 23 December 2011 / Published: 30 December 2011
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Abstract: Spirolides are marine phycotoxins produced by the dinoflagellates Alexandrium ostenfeldii and A. peruvianum. Here we report that 13-desmethyl spirolide C shows little cytotoxicity when incubated with various cultured mammalian cell lines. When administered to mice by intraperitoneal (ip) injection, however, this substance was highly toxic, with an LD50 value of 6.9 µg/kg body weight (BW), showing that such in vitro cytotoxicity tests are not appropriate for predicting the in vivo toxicity of this toxin. Four other spirolides, A, B, C, and 20-methyl spirolide G, were also toxic to mice by ip injection, with LD50 values of 37, 99, 8.0 and 8.0 µg/kg BW respectively. However, the acute toxicities of these compounds were lower by at least an order of magnitude when administration by gavage and their toxic effects were further diminished when administered with food. These results have implications for future studies of the toxicology of these marine toxins and the risk assessment of human exposure.
Keywords: spirolides; marine phycotoxin; acute toxicity; Alexandrium ostenfeldii; seafood poisoning

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MDPI and ACS Style

Munday, R.; Quilliam, M.A.; LeBlanc, P.; Lewis, N.; Gallant, P.; Sperker, S.A.; Ewart, H.S.; MacKinnon, S.L. Investigations into the Toxicology of Spirolides, a Group of Marine Phycotoxins. Toxins 2012, 4, 1-14.

AMA Style

Munday R, Quilliam MA, LeBlanc P, Lewis N, Gallant P, Sperker SA, Ewart HS, MacKinnon SL. Investigations into the Toxicology of Spirolides, a Group of Marine Phycotoxins. Toxins. 2012; 4(1):1-14.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Munday, Rex; Quilliam, Michael A.; LeBlanc, Patricia; Lewis, Nancy; Gallant, Pamela; Sperker, Sandra A.; Ewart, H. Stephen; MacKinnon, Shawna L. 2012. "Investigations into the Toxicology of Spirolides, a Group of Marine Phycotoxins." Toxins 4, no. 1: 1-14.

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