Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (SPS): Toxicology and Kinetics

NÉSTOR LAGOS AND DARÍO ANDRINOLO

Seafood and Freshwater Toxins": Mode of Action, Pharmacology and Physiology"

MARCEL DEKKER

Año: 2000; p. 203 - 215

Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) has been recognized for centuries as a clinical entity, and the prevention of human intoxication due to the ingestion of toxic shellfish has been a problem of mutual interest to public health and fishery authorities all over the world for the last 60 years (1, 2, 3, 4). From the standpoint of the reported number of deaths each year, paralytic shellfish poisoning can not be classified as a major public health problem. Nevertheless, it is of considerable concern because a fatal dose of the poison for humans, which may be obtained from a single serving of highly toxic shellfish, is only around a milligram, and there is no known antidote. Widespread distribution of poisonous shellfish products would present a hazard to every shellfish consumer, because the Paralytic Shellfish Poison (PSP) toxins are very stable