Abstract
Ciguatera (CFP: ciguatera fish poisoning) is a food poisoning of worldwide occurrence. We developed a sensitive determination method for the causative toxins employing the high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The use of 16 reference toxins prepared either by chemical synthesis or isolation from natural sources enabled to perform the accurate and simultaneous analysis. The method clarified toxin profiles in fish from different place in Japan for the first time. A good agreement was observed between the LC-MS/MS and mouse bioassay results. Detailed toxin analysis of fish and the causative alga, Gambierdiscus toxicus, from French Polynesia newly revealed the occurrence of M-seco toxins in fish flesh and oxidized toxins in G. toxicus. The new LC-MS/MS method is a promising tool not only for food safety but also to study the toxin dynamics during the food chain transmission.
