LAUSR

Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) is a cyanotoxin that has raised serious concerns about public health in many parts of the world. It can bioaccumulate and affect the health of aquatic organisms, but despite this, few studies have been conducted on CYN uptake and clearance in fish. In this paper, we evaluate the uptake and clearance of CYN in the muscle tissue and viscera of juvenile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) after exposure to aqueous extracts and whole -cells of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (CYN-producer). CYN blended with commercial fish food and three experiments were conducted. In the first trial, fish food plus aqueous extracts containing 0.31 μg CYN/g of food per day, was administered to tilapia for 15 days. In the second trial, fish were given food plus intact cells (5.4 μg CYN/g of food per day) for 15 days. In the last trial, they were given fish food plus aqueous extracts (0.8 μg CYN/g of food per day) for 12 days and, for the following 10 days, the animals were fed food without toxic cell extracts (to simulate a clearance period). The concentration of CYN in muscle tissue and viscera was analyzed by ELISA. In the case of juvenile tilapia, the presence of CYN was higher in viscera than muscle tissue, and the toxin remained in the tissues even after ten days without the addition of contaminated food. The results suggest that tilapia represents a potential source of CYN transfer through the food web and this demonstrates the need for a continuous monitoring of this compound in organisms that are used for human and animal consumption. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.