Discovery of a Potential Human Serum Biomarker for Chronic Seafood Toxin Exposure Using an SPR Biosensor
Kathi A. Lefebvre,
Betsy Jean Yakes,
Elizabeth Frame,
Preston Kendrick,
Sara Shum,
Nina Isoherranen,
Bridget E. Ferriss,
Alison Robertson,
Alicia Hendrix,
David J. Marcinek,
Lynn Grattan
Affiliations
Kathi A. Lefebvre
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2725 Montlake Blvd. East, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
Betsy Jean Yakes
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Elizabeth Frame
Aquatic Toxicology Unit, King County Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA 98119, USA
Preston Kendrick
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2725 Montlake Blvd. East, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
Sara Shum
Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Nina Isoherranen
Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Bridget E. Ferriss
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2725 Montlake Blvd. East, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
Alison Robertson
Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, AL 36528, USA
Alicia Hendrix
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105-6099, USA
David J. Marcinek
Departments of Radiology and Bioengineering and Pathology, University of Washington Medical School, 850 Republican Street, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
Lynn Grattan
Neurology Department, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
Domoic acid (DA)-producing harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been present at unprecedented geographic extent and duration in recent years causing an increase in contamination of seafood by this common environmental neurotoxin. The toxin is responsible for the neurotoxic illness, amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), that is characterized by gastro-intestinal distress, seizures, memory loss, and death. Established seafood safety regulatory limits of 20 μg DA/g shellfish have been relatively successful at protecting human seafood consumers from short-term high-level exposures and episodes of acute ASP. Significant concerns, however, remain regarding the potential impact of repetitive low-level or chronic DA exposure for which there are no protections. Here, we report the novel discovery of a DA-specific antibody in the serum of chronically-exposed tribal shellfish harvesters from a region where DA is commonly detected at low levels in razor clams year-round. The toxin was also detected in tribal shellfish consumers’ urine samples confirming systemic DA exposure via consumption of legally-harvested razor clams. The presence of a DA-specific antibody in the serum of human shellfish consumers confirms long-term chronic DA exposure and may be useful as a diagnostic biomarker in a clinical setting. Adverse effects of chronic low-level DA exposure have been previously documented in laboratory animal studies and tribal razor clam consumers, underscoring the potential clinical impact of such a diagnostic biomarker for protecting human health. The discovery of this type of antibody response to chronic DA exposure has broader implications for other environmental neurotoxins of concern.
