Greater Caribbean Center for Ciguatera Research

雪卡毒鱼中毒（CFP）是地球仪上最常见的由藻毒素传播的海产品疾病， 每年影响成千上万的人CFP是由食用海鲜（主要是珊瑚礁）引起的 鱼）受到雪卡毒素污染。冈比亚毒素，（亚）热带地区产生的雪卡毒素的前体 底栖甲藻属Gambierdiscus，当食草动物和食肉动物消耗时， 直接或间接地通过吃大型藻类获得。这些前体分子被转移到 通过生物积累、生物转化和生物放大作用提高营养水平，直至到达掠食性鱼类 这是许多商业和休闲渔业的目标物种。当人们随后消费 在被污染的鱼中，它们暴露于毒素中，从而经历CFP。从历史上看， 与温暖的海水温度和珊瑚礁的影响有关，预计这两种情况都会增加 in the setting设置of climate气候change变化.因此，预计CFP将在地理和时间尺度上增加。 例如，尽管CFP是加勒比海、佛罗里达群岛和南佛罗里达的地方病，但CFP似乎 正在向北扩展到墨西哥湾，最近在花中发现有毒鱼类， 位于德克萨斯州/路易斯安那州海岸的花园海洋保护区。雪卡毒素是一种新型的电压门控离子 通道毒素在神经组织中，雪卡毒素引起钠离子渗透性的河豚毒素敏感性增加 和静息膜的去极化。根据去极化的大小， 结果可能是神经元膜兴奋性的增加或去极化类型的传导 在高浓度下阻断。CFP的发病以胃肠道和神经系统为典型特征， 症状和体征通常持续数天至数周，伴随呕吐、腹泻、恶心、腹痛， 常见感觉迟钝、瘙痒、肌痛。严重的雪卡毒素可导致低血压， 心动过缓但死亡率很低偶尔，神经系统症状可能持续数月。值得注意的是， 雪卡毒素的诊断仍然主要依赖于临床医生的敏锐。在没有 尽管有大量的确诊实验室检测，但仍有相当大比例的病例未被诊断和报告。神秘的 CFP事件的性质，加上缺乏对环境和生理的持续科学研究， 导致疾病爆发的因素，阻碍了管理战略的制定， 保护人们不接触雪卡毒素。因此，该项目的目的是建立一个更大的 加勒比雪卡毒研究中心将1）研究气候变化在地理和环境中可能发挥的作用， CFP的时间扩展到更温和的纬度; 2）更好地了解有毒物质 某些冈比亚盘菌菌株产生的代谢物，以及随后的转移和生物转化， 这些化合物进入沿海/珊瑚礁食物网; 3）研究遗传毒性和对细胞代谢的影响 是由这些毒素引起的

Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is the most common form of phycotoxin-borne seafood illness across the globe, affecting tens of thousands of people annually. CFP is caused by the consumption of seafood (primarily reef fish) contaminated with ciguatoxins. Gambiertoxins, precursors of ciguatoxins produced by the (sub)tropical benthic dinoflagellate genus Gambierdiscus, enter reef food webs when herbivores and detritivores consume Gambierdiscus directly or indirectly by grazing on macroalgae. These precursor molecules are transferred to higher trophic levels by bioaccumulation, bioconversion and biomagnification until they reach predatory finfish species that are targeted in many commercial and recreational fisheries. When people subsequently consume the contaminated fish, they are exposed to the toxins, thereby experiencing CFP. Historically, CFP outbreaks have been linked with warm water temperatures and coral reef impacts, both of which are expected to increase in the setting of climate change. Consequently, CFP is predicted to increase on geographic and temporal scales. For example, although CFP is endemic to the Caribbean, the Florida Keys, and South Florida, CFP appears to be expanding northwards into the Gulf of Mexico, highlighted by the recent identification of toxic fish in the Flower Garden Marine Sanctuary off of the Texas/Louisiana coast. Ciguatoxin is a novel type of voltage-gated ion channel toxin. In nerve tissues, ciguatoxin causes a tetrodotoxin-sensitive increase in sodium ion permeability and depolarization of the resting membrane. Depending on the magnitude of the depolarization, the consequence can be an increase in excitability of the neuronal membrane or a depolarizing type of conduction block at high concentrations. The onset of CFP is typically characterized by gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms and signs typically persist for days to weeks, with vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, dysesthesia, pruritus, myalgia being common. Severe cases of ciguatera may involve hypotension and bradycardia, but fatalities are rare. Occasionally, neurological signs may persist for several months. Remarkably, the diagnosis of ciguatera is still largely dependent on the astuteness of the clinician. In the absence of a confirmatory laboratory test, a sizable proportion of cases still go undiagnosed and unreported. The enigmatic nature of CFP events, coupled with a lack of sustained scientific research on the environmental and physiological factors that contribute to outbreaks, has hindered progress in the development of management strategies to protect people against exposure to ciguatoxins. The purpose of this project, therefore, is to establish a Greater Caribbean Center for Ciguatera Research to 1) examine the role climate change may play in the geographic and temporal expansion of CFP into more temperate latitudes; 2) obtain a better understanding of the toxic metabolites produced by certain Gambierdiscus strains, and the subsequent transfer and biotransformation of these compounds into coastal/reef food webs; and 3) study the genotoxicity and impacts on cellular metabolism caused by these toxins upon exposure.