Cyanotoxin in Aquatic Animals and Its Potential Threats to Human Health - Contemporary Outstanding Young Scientists Library

Author: Xie Ping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: According to the book, cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are an ancient group of organisms widely distributed in freshwater, brackish water, seawater, and terrestrial environments. They play a significant role in the biogeochemical cycles of elements and in maintaining the structure, function, and biodiversity of ecosystems. On the other hand, these Gram-negative prokaryotes, although they cannot parasitize humans or animals to cause disease, can produce a series of highly toxic natural toxins (known as microcystins, or MCs) that threaten human health. Microcystins in Aquatic Animals and Their Potential Threats to Human Health is a comprehensive work of 250,000 words.
Chapter 1 is an introduction to MC, primarily covering toxic cyanobacteria and MC toxicity, the chemical structure and properties of MCs, their stability, and the molecular mechanisms of toxicity. Chapter 2 introduces the extraction and detection techniques of MCs in animals. It is noteworthy that the MCs distributed in various tissues and organs of animals still require quite complex and cumbersome sample pretreatment (separation, purification) before analysis and determination, which can be quite troublesome. From Chapter 3 to Chapter 7, it provides a detailed introduction to all field and experimental studies on the uptake, clearance, and bioaccumulation of MCs by aquatic animals (fish, mollusks, shrimp, and crabs) that the author could obtain domestically and internationally.
Chapter 8 mainly introduces pharmacokinetics, and it is regrettable that research on the pharmacokinetic processes of MCs in aquatic animals is very limited, with few pharmacokinetic parameters being calculated. Chapter 9 discusses the general accumulation patterns of MCs in aquatic animals, raising an important question about whether MCs undergo biomagnification along the food chain. Chapter 10 discusses the threats of MCs to human health, focusing on analyzing whether terrestrial mammals, including humans, are more vulnerable to MCs than aquatic animals. It pays special attention to the possible relationship between the evolution of circulatory systems in different animal groups and blood pressure. After reading the final chapter, one might believe that for MCs, a toxin that damages the liver's vascular system, the same dose may have no significant effect on fish but could be fatal to mammals.
It should be noted that to date, people know very little about the metabolic processes of MCs in animals. Due to the stability of cyclic peptides against enzymatic degradation, the metabolism of MCs in mammals may be quite limited.
According to the book, cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are an ancient group of organisms widely distributed in freshwater, brackish water, seawater, and terrestrial environments. They play a significant role in the biogeochemical cycles of elements and in maintaining the structure, function, and biodiversity of ecosystems. On the other hand, these Gram-negative prokaryotes, although they cannot parasitize humans or animals to cause disease, can produce a series of highly toxic natural toxins (known as microcystins, or MCs) that threaten human health. Microcystins in Aquatic Animals and Their Potential Threats to Human Health is a comprehensive work of 250,000 words.
Chapter 1 is an introduction to MC, primarily covering toxic cyanobacteria and MC toxicity, the chemical structure and properties of MCs, their stability, and the molecular mechanisms of toxicity. Chapter 2 introduces the extraction and detection techniques of MCs in animals. It is noteworthy that the MCs distributed in various tissues and organs of animals still require quite complex and cumbersome sample pretreatment (separation, purification) before analysis and determination, which can be quite troublesome. From Chapter 3 to Chapter 7, it provides a detailed introduction to all field and experimental studies on the uptake, clearance, and bioaccumulation of MCs by aquatic animals (fish, mollusks, shrimp, and crabs) that the author could obtain domestically and internationally.
Chapter 8 mainly introduces pharmacokinetics, and it is regrettable that research on the pharmacokinetic processes of MCs in aquatic animals is very limited, with few pharmacokinetic parameters being calculated. Chapter 9 discusses the general accumulation patterns of MCs in aquatic animals, raising an important question about whether MCs undergo biomagnification along the food chain. Chapter 10 discusses the threats of MCs to human health, focusing on analyzing whether terrestrial mammals, including humans, are more vulnerable to MCs than aquatic animals. It pays special attention to the possible relationship between the evolution of circulatory systems in different animal groups and blood pressure. After reading the final chapter, one might believe that for MCs, a toxin that damages the liver's vascular system, the same dose may have no significant effect on fish but could be fatal to mammals.
It should be noted that to date, people know very little about the metabolic processes of MCs in animals. Due to the stability of cyclic peptides against enzymatic degradation, the metabolism of MCs in mammals may be quite limited.