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Toxin Responsible for Xanthid Crab Poisoning in Tinh Gia District, Thanh Hoa Province, Viet Nam

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Abstract

In the early morning of March 27, 2021, a severe human poisoning incident occurred in Tinh Gia District, Thanh Hoa Province, Viet Nam. Two crab specimens, as remaining poisonous food, were collected and sent to the Institute of Oceanography, where the specimens were identified as Demania reynaudii, one of the common xanthid crab species found in Viet Nam. A considerably high toxicity (175 and 195 MU/g soft tissue) was detected in a mouse bioassay, which indicated that these crabs were not safe for human food. An extract from crab soft tissue was further analyzed for tetrodotoxins (TTXs) and saxitoxins (STXs)by HILIC/MS–MS. No STXs were found, but TTX and two its analogs (anh-TTX and 4-epiTTX) were detected in the crab extract. The highest level was recorded for anh-TTX (100.0 and 139.5 μg/g), followed by TTX (35.0 and 37.4 μg/g) and 4-epiTTX (8.5 and 17.8 μg/g); however, TTX accounted for 85–90% of the total toxicity of the crab samples. Although no individual toxicity variation was observed due to the limitations of the specimen collection, the data confirmed that TTX was responsible for the poisoning incident. It is the first report of D. reynaudii as a TTX bearing-crab in Viet Nam.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to the Japan Funds in Trust (JFIT) for the IOC/WESTPAC-TMO project. The authors would like to thank Prof. Oshima, Tohoku University, Japan, for providing the STXs reference materials. Also, our thanks are due to Dr. Dao Tan Hoc, Department of Marine Living Resources, Institute of Oceanography, VAST, for species identification. This paper is a tribute to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Institute of Oceanography, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.

Funding

This research was funded by the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology for the project leaded by Assoc. Prof. Dao Viet Ha, grant no. NVCC 17.03/22-23.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanography, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 650000, Nha Trang, Vietnam

    Dao Viet Ha, Le Ho Khanh Hy, Truong Si Hai Trinh & Pham Xuan Ky

  2. Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 100000, Ha Noi, Vietnam

    Dao Viet Ha

  3. Center for Research and Technology Transfer, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 100000, Ha Noi, Vietnam

    Nguyen Ngoc Tung

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  1. Dao Viet Ha
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Correspondence to Dao Viet Ha.

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Conflict of interest. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.Statement on the welfare of animals. All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Dao Viet Ha, Hy, L.H., Trinh, T.S. et al. Toxin Responsible for Xanthid Crab Poisoning in Tinh Gia District, Thanh Hoa Province, Viet Nam. Russ J Mar Biol 49, 62–67 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074023010029

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