| Uptake and Elimination of Brevetoxin in Blood of Striped Mullet (Mugil cephalus) after Aqueous Exposure to Karenia brevis Ricky T. Woofter, Kirsten Brendtro, and John S. Ramsdell Marine Biotoxins Program, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-National Ocean Service, Charleston, South Carolina, USA Abstract
There is a critical need to simply and reliably monitor brevetoxins routinely in the blood of humans and aquatic animals. We used striped mullet as laboratory test animals to better define the uptake and elimination kinetics of brevetoxin during an aqueous exposure to the brevetoxin-producing dinoflagellate Karenia brevis. Striped mullet were first exposed to sublethal densities of K. brevis (~ 250,000 cells/L) for 1, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hr. No mortality was observed in the aquaria, and at each time point blood samples were taken and applied to blood collection cards for brevetoxin analysis using radioimmunoassay (RIA) . The RIA indicated that blood levels of brevetoxin (PbTx-3) increased to values significantly different from that of the controls at all five time points during exposure (p < 0.05) . Striped mullet were then exposed to a K. brevis culture with a known brevetoxin concentration of 0.5 ng/mL. Even after exposures at a low brevetoxin concentration, RIA was able to detect 2.25 ± 0.62 ng/mL PbTx-3 equivalents in the blood of the mullet at 8 hr of exposure. When exposed to higher brevetoxin concentrations (3.5 and 5.4 ng/mL) , blood brevetoxin increased to peak levels at 12 hr and then reached equilibrium after 24 hr in the continued presence of K. brevis. During this time of equilibrium, the mullet maintained brevetoxins with a blood:water coefficient of 2.2. To define the elimination of brevetoxin, striped mullet were next exposed for 8-10 hr and then transferred to fresh seawater containing no K. brevis for up to 116 hr. Blood brevetoxin levels remained elevated and decreased only by 50% 116 hr after transfer. The rate of elimination fit best to a two-phase exponential decay with a biologic half-life of 12 and 266 hr. This study, using RIA in conjunction with blood collection cards, demonstrates an effective means to monitor blood brevetoxin levels in finfish and provides a foundation to characterize biologically relevant levels of brevetoxin in other species impacted by red tide events. Key words: blood, brevetoxin, radioimmunoassay. Environ Health Perspect 113:11-16 (2005) . doi:10.1289/ehp.7274 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 23 September 2004]
Address correspondence to J.S. Ramsdell, Coastal Research Branch, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, NOAA-National Ocean Service, 219 Fort Johnson Rd., Charleston, SC 29412 USA. Telephone: (843) 762-8510. Fax: (843) 762-8700. E-mail: john.ramsdell@noaa.gov The National Ocean Service (NOS) does not approve, recommend, or endorse any proprietary product or material mentioned in this publication. No reference shall be made to NOS, or to this publication furnished by NOS, in any advertising or sales promotion that would indicate or imply that NOS approves, recommends, or endorses any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned herein or that has as its purpose any intent to cause directly or indirectly the advertised product to be used or purchased because of NOS publication. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 21 May 2004 ; Accepted 23 September 2004.
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