Seafood and Freshwater Toxins

General considerations: historic considerations regarding seafood safety; diversity of marine and freshwater algae toxins. The epidemiological impact of toxic episodes: non-neurotoxic toxins; neurotoxic toxins. diversity of neurotoxins as pharmacological tools: calcium channels for exocytosis - functional modulation with toxins. Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP): ecobiology, classification, and origin; chemistry and mechanism of action; chemical analysis of PSP toxins; biological detection methods; toxicology and kinetics. Enteric toxic episodes - DSP toxins: chemistry and detection methods for okadaic acid and analogues; mechanism of action and toxicology; neoplastic activity of DSP toxins; pecteno and yessotoxins - chemistry, toxicology, pharmacology, and analysis. Amnesic toxic episodes: ecobiology, clinical symptoms, and mode of action of domoic acid, an amnesic shellfish toxin; pharmacology of domoic acid; molecular biology of kainate receptors - targets of domoic acid toxicity; chemical and biological detection methods. Non-PSP neurotoxic episodes: ciguatera toxins -chemistry and detection; ciguatera toxins -pharmacology of toxins involved in ciguatera and related fish poisoning; ciguatera toxins - toxicology of ciguatera toxins; ciguatera toxins - mechanisms of action and pharmacology of malitotoxin; brevetoxins -chemistry, mechanisms of action, and methods of detection. Palytoxin: chemistry and detection; mechanism of action, pharmacology, and toxicology. Freshwater toxins and hepatotoxins: ecobiology, classification, chemistry, and detection; mechanisms of action, pharmacology, and toxicology and impacts on aquaculture; ecobiology and classification; chemistry and detection; microcystin and nodularin cyanobacterial hepatotoxins - mechanism of toxicity and effects on health; geographical distribution of toxic cyanobacterial blooms. New toxins, new drugs: new toxins on the horizon. (Part contents).