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ToxSci Advance Access originally published online on January 16, 2009
Toxicological Sciences 2009 108(1):81-89; doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfp009
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

First Identification of the Hepatotoxic Microcystins in the Serum of a Chronically Exposed Human Population Together with Indication of Hepatocellular Damage

Jun Chen, Ping Xie1, Li Li and Jun Xu

Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology of China, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.R. China

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at Dr Ping Xie, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Donghu South Road 7, Wuhan 430072, P.R. China. Fax: +86-27-68780622. E-mail: xieping{at}ihb.ac.cn.

Received November 26, 2008; accepted January 7, 2009


  Abstract

Hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs) are the most commonly reported cyanotoxins in eutrophic freshwaters. In 1996, human intoxications by MCs caused deaths of 76 patients at Caruaru dialysis centers in Brazil. So far, there have been no direct evidences of MC occurrence in human tissue in consequence of exposure to MC. In this study, we improved cleanup procedures for detecting MCs in serum sample using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and confirmed for the first time the presence of MCs in serum samples (average 0.39 ng/ml, which amounts to ca. 1/87 of the concentrations found in tissue samples of the Caruaru victims) of fishermen at Lake Chaohu. Daily intake by the fishermen was estimated to be in the range of 2.2–3.9 µg MC-LReq, whereas the provisional World Health Organization tolerable daily intake (TDI) for daily lifetime exposure is 0.04 µg/kg or 2–3 µg per person. Moreover, statistical analysis showed closer positive relationships between MC serum concentrations and concentrations of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase than between the MC concentrations and other biochemical indicators. Thus, the data raise the question whether extended exposure in the range of the TDI or up to a factor of 10 above it may already lead to indication of liver damage. The results also demonstrate a risk of health effects from chronic exposure to MCs at least for populations with high levels of exposure, like these fishermen.

Key Words: serum microcystins; serum biochemical indices; natural chronic exposure; fishermen; hepatocellular damage.


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