Stability of Saxitoxin in 50% Methanol Fecal Extracts and Raw Feces from Bowhead Whales ( Balaena mysticetus )
In recent decades, harmful algal blooms (HABs) producing paralytic shellfish toxins (including saxitoxin, STX) have become increasingly frequent in the marine waters of Alaska, USA, subjecting Pacific Arctic and subarctic communities and wildlife to increased toxin exposure risks. Research on the ri...
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2022
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0cfdea130ca84e4f93ab8dd726c41cbc 2023-05-15T15:17:07+02:00 Stability of Saxitoxin in 50% Methanol Fecal Extracts and Raw Feces from Bowhead Whales ( Balaena mysticetus ) Emily K. Bowers Raphaela Stimmelmayr Alicia Hendrix Kathi A. Lefebvre 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/md20090547 https://doaj.org/article/0cfdea130ca84e4f93ab8dd726c41cbc EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/20/9/547 https://doaj.org/toc/1660-3397 doi:10.3390/md20090547 1660-3397 https://doaj.org/article/0cfdea130ca84e4f93ab8dd726c41cbc Marine Drugs, Vol 20, Iss 547, p 547 (2022) marine mammals toxin degradation harmful algal bloom toxins storage conditions ELISA saxitoxin Biology (General) QH301-705.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/md20090547 2022-12-31T00:33:46Z In recent decades, harmful algal blooms (HABs) producing paralytic shellfish toxins (including saxitoxin, STX) have become increasingly frequent in the marine waters of Alaska, USA, subjecting Pacific Arctic and subarctic communities and wildlife to increased toxin exposure risks. Research on the risks of HAB toxin exposures to marine mammal health commonly relies on the sampling of marine mammal gastrointestinal (GI) contents to quantify HAB toxins, yet no studies have been published testing the stability of STX in marine mammal GI matrices. An understanding of STX stability in test matrices under storage and handling conditions is imperative to the integrity of toxin quantifications and conclusions drawn thereby. Here, STX stability is characterized in field-collected bowhead whale feces (stored raw in several treatments) and in fecal extracts (50% methanol, MeOH) over multiple time points. Toxin stability, as the percent of initial concentration (T0), was reported for each storage treatment and time point. STX was stable (mean 99% T0) in 50% MeOH extracts over the 8-week study period, and there was no significant difference in STX concentrations quantified in split fecal samples extracted in 80% ethanol (EtOH) and 50% MeOH. STX was also relatively stable in raw fecal material stored in the freezer (mean 94% T0) and the refrigerator (mean 93% T0) up to 8 weeks. STX degraded over time in the room-temperature dark, room-temperature light, and warm treatments to means of 48 ± 1.9, 38 ± 2.8, and 20 ± 0.7% T0, respectively, after 8 weeks (mean ± standard error; SE). Additional opportunistically analyzed samples frozen for ≤4.5 years also showed STX to be relatively stable (mean 97% T0). Mean percent of T0 was measured slightly above 100% in some extracts following some treatments, and (most notably) at some long-term frozen time points, likely due to evaporation from samples causing STX to concentrate, or variability between ELISA plates. Overall, these results suggest that long-term frozen storage of raw fecal ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Balaena mysticetus bowhead whale Pacific Arctic Subarctic Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Pacific Marine Drugs 20 9 547 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
marine mammals toxin degradation harmful algal bloom toxins storage conditions ELISA saxitoxin Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
spellingShingle |
marine mammals toxin degradation harmful algal bloom toxins storage conditions ELISA saxitoxin Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Emily K. Bowers Raphaela Stimmelmayr Alicia Hendrix Kathi A. Lefebvre Stability of Saxitoxin in 50% Methanol Fecal Extracts and Raw Feces from Bowhead Whales ( Balaena mysticetus ) |
topic_facet |
marine mammals toxin degradation harmful algal bloom toxins storage conditions ELISA saxitoxin Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
description |
In recent decades, harmful algal blooms (HABs) producing paralytic shellfish toxins (including saxitoxin, STX) have become increasingly frequent in the marine waters of Alaska, USA, subjecting Pacific Arctic and subarctic communities and wildlife to increased toxin exposure risks. Research on the risks of HAB toxin exposures to marine mammal health commonly relies on the sampling of marine mammal gastrointestinal (GI) contents to quantify HAB toxins, yet no studies have been published testing the stability of STX in marine mammal GI matrices. An understanding of STX stability in test matrices under storage and handling conditions is imperative to the integrity of toxin quantifications and conclusions drawn thereby. Here, STX stability is characterized in field-collected bowhead whale feces (stored raw in several treatments) and in fecal extracts (50% methanol, MeOH) over multiple time points. Toxin stability, as the percent of initial concentration (T0), was reported for each storage treatment and time point. STX was stable (mean 99% T0) in 50% MeOH extracts over the 8-week study period, and there was no significant difference in STX concentrations quantified in split fecal samples extracted in 80% ethanol (EtOH) and 50% MeOH. STX was also relatively stable in raw fecal material stored in the freezer (mean 94% T0) and the refrigerator (mean 93% T0) up to 8 weeks. STX degraded over time in the room-temperature dark, room-temperature light, and warm treatments to means of 48 ± 1.9, 38 ± 2.8, and 20 ± 0.7% T0, respectively, after 8 weeks (mean ± standard error; SE). Additional opportunistically analyzed samples frozen for ≤4.5 years also showed STX to be relatively stable (mean 97% T0). Mean percent of T0 was measured slightly above 100% in some extracts following some treatments, and (most notably) at some long-term frozen time points, likely due to evaporation from samples causing STX to concentrate, or variability between ELISA plates. Overall, these results suggest that long-term frozen storage of raw fecal ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Emily K. Bowers Raphaela Stimmelmayr Alicia Hendrix Kathi A. Lefebvre |
author_facet |
Emily K. Bowers Raphaela Stimmelmayr Alicia Hendrix Kathi A. Lefebvre |
author_sort |
Emily K. Bowers |
title |
Stability of Saxitoxin in 50% Methanol Fecal Extracts and Raw Feces from Bowhead Whales ( Balaena mysticetus ) |
title_short |
Stability of Saxitoxin in 50% Methanol Fecal Extracts and Raw Feces from Bowhead Whales ( Balaena mysticetus ) |
title_full |
Stability of Saxitoxin in 50% Methanol Fecal Extracts and Raw Feces from Bowhead Whales ( Balaena mysticetus ) |
title_fullStr |
Stability of Saxitoxin in 50% Methanol Fecal Extracts and Raw Feces from Bowhead Whales ( Balaena mysticetus ) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stability of Saxitoxin in 50% Methanol Fecal Extracts and Raw Feces from Bowhead Whales ( Balaena mysticetus ) |
title_sort |
stability of saxitoxin in 50% methanol fecal extracts and raw feces from bowhead whales ( balaena mysticetus ) |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/md20090547 https://doaj.org/article/0cfdea130ca84e4f93ab8dd726c41cbc |
geographic |
Arctic Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Pacific |
genre |
Arctic Balaena mysticetus bowhead whale Pacific Arctic Subarctic Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Balaena mysticetus bowhead whale Pacific Arctic Subarctic Alaska |
op_source |
Marine Drugs, Vol 20, Iss 547, p 547 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/20/9/547 https://doaj.org/toc/1660-3397 doi:10.3390/md20090547 1660-3397 https://doaj.org/article/0cfdea130ca84e4f93ab8dd726c41cbc |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/md20090547 |
container_title |
Marine Drugs |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
547 |
_version_ |
1766347396150722560 |