Published Date: 1996-02-09 23:50:00
Subject: PROMED: Domoic acid
Archive Number: 19960209.0275

DOMOIC ACID
===========
[(Archiv.960207) Andrew Scallet reported deaths of cormorants on the
US West Coast, possibly due to domoic acid in anchovies. MH-J]
[1]
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 96 17:05:08 PST
From: "Mooney, Hank" <hmooney@mfi.com>
Subject: Re: PROMED-AHEAD: Seagulls, mass mortality - France (3)
Excuse my ignorance, but what is *domoic acid*?
****
[2] [Andrew Scallett, the poster of the orignal message was asked
to provide an explanation. MH-J]

From: "ANDREW SCALLET" <ASCALLET@fdant.nctr.fda.gov>
Organization: N.C.T.R.
Date: Fri, 9 Feb 1996 14:43:45 CDT
Subject: Re: Domoic Acid

Domoic acid is a neurotoxic tricarboxylic amino acid structurally
related to kainic and glutamic acids. It was first chemically identified
after its isolation in 1958 from the seaweed Chondria armata, found off
the coast of Japan.
In 1987, several people died and more than 100 became ill after eating
blue mussels caught off Prince Edward Island, Canada. It was determined
by Canadian scientists that domoic acid had entered the food chain when
the mussels fed on a toxic algae bloom of the pennate diatom
Pseudonitzschia pungens forma multiseries.
In 1991, in Monterey Bay, California, a bloom of Pseudonitzschia australis
also produced domoic acid that was then concentrated in anchovies feeding
upon it. The deaths of pelicans and cormorants that ate the anchovies were
reported to be related to their exposure to domoic acid.
A quick and dirty way to check a suspicion of domoic acid is to inject a
mouse i.p. with a sample and look for a characteristic scratching behind
the ear with a rear foot after 15 minutes or so. More sophisticated
analytical approaches are available.
Transient elevations of plasma BUN levels, as well as neurodegeneration of
the hippocampus, and memory deficits have been associated with near-lethal
domoic acid exposures.
A BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) Perl, T.M. et al. (1990) An outbreak of toxic encephalopathy caused by
eating mussels contaminated with domoic acid. New Engl J Med
322:1775-1780.
2) Garrison, D.L. et al. (1992) Confirmation of domoic acid
production by Pseudonitzschia australis (bacillariophyceae) cultures.
J. Phycol. 28:604-607.
3) Scallet, A.C. et al. (1993) Domoic acid-treated cynomolgus monkeys
(M. fascicularis): effects of dose on hippocampal neuronal and
terminal degeneration. Brain Res 627:307-313.
AScallet@FDANT.NCTR.FDA.GOV
Andrew C. Scallet, Ph.D.
Experimental Neuropathology Lab
Division of Neurotoxicology/HFT-132
USFDA/National Center for Toxicological Research
Jefferson, AR 72079
Phone 501-543-7146
FAX 501-543-7745
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[-Thank you very much, Andrew. MH-J]
......................................................................

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