Tai-Yuan Chen ^a, Cheng-Hong Hsieh ^b, Deng-Fwu Hwang ^a,b,*

 

^a Department of Food Science and Center of Excellence for the Oceans, National Taiwan Ocean University,
Taiwan
^b Department of Health and Nutrition, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan

 

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a naturally occurring toxin in food, especially in puffer fish. TTX poisoning is observed frequently in South East Asian regions. In TTX-derived food poisoning outbreaks, the amount of TTX recovered from suspicious fish samples or leftovers, and residual levels from biological fluids of victims are typically trace. However, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry methods have been demonstrated to qualitatively and quantitatively determine TTX in clinical samples from victims. Identification and validation of the TTX-originating seafood species responsible for a food poisoning incident is needed. A polymerase chain reaction-based method on mitochondrial DNA analysis is useful for identification of fish species. This review aims to collect pertinent information available on TTX-borne food poisoning incidents with a special emphasis on the analytical methods employed for TTX detection in clinical laboratories as well as for the identification of TTX-bearing species. 

 

Keywords: identification, liquid chromatographyetandem, mass spectrometry, polymerase chain reaction method, coupled with restriction fragment, length polymorphism, tetrodotoxin, tetrodotoxin poisoning incident