'Diarrhetic' type shellfish poisoning in Nigeria.
The safety of shellfish found and consumed in Nigeria is doubtful because no investigations have been carried out on their toxicity. The occurrence and toxicity of toxins in the commonly consumed Nigerian shellfish from Lagos, Warri, Oron, and Port Harcourt (PH) were investigated. Albino Wistar mice treated with chloroform extract of hepatopancreas (HP) from PH shellfish died 7-8 min post treatment. They convulsed for 30-60 s prior to death. The aqueous phase obtained from the diethyl ether extraction of the same HP resulted in the death of one out of two mice injected with it, 39 min post treatment.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada. oigboeli@upei.ca
Okechukwu O
OO
Igboeli
Isaac U
IU
Asuzu
D000818:Animals; D043143:Hepatopancreas / Q000737:chemistry; D008387:Marine Toxins / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D009549:Nigeria; D012758:Shellfish / Q000633:toxicity*; D057096:Shellfish Poisoning / Q000209:etiology*; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute
D008387:Marine Toxins