Microsporidia in Commercially Harvested Marine Fish : A Potential Health Risk for Consumers
Moratal, Samantha (Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU. Servicio de Análisis, Investigación y Gestión de Animales Silvestres)
Magnet, Angela (Universidad San Pablo-CEU. Facultad de Farmacia)
Izquierdo, Fernando (Universidad San Pablo-CEU. Facultad de Farmacia)
del Águila, Carmen (Universidad San Pablo-CEU. Facultad de Farmacia)
López-Ramon, Jordi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Grup de Recerca Wildlife Ecology & Health)
Dea-Ayuela, M. Auxiliadora (Universidad San Pablo-CEU. Facultad de Farmacia)

Data:	2023
Resum:	Microsporidia are widespread fungal pathogens that affect several organisms, including humans, and are transmitted by food or water. This study aims to survey the presence of the main human-pathogenic microsporidia in digestive samples of edible marine fish in the Comunidad Valenciana, Spain. For this purpose, 138 farmed fish and 113 wild fish from commercial fishing were simultaneously tested using a specific polymerase chain reaction assay. We detected, for the first time, the presence of the zoonotic species Encephalitozoon intestinalis/hellem in both studied fish groups, together with the presence of microsporidia from the family Enterocytozoonidae. In marine fish, E. intestinalis/hellem suggests a potential risk for public health. However, additional studies in the characterization and epidemiology of these pathogenic microsporidia species in fish are necessary. Microsporidia are widely spread obligate intracellular fungal pathogens from vertebrate and invertebrate organisms, mainly transmitted by contaminated food and water. This study aims to detect the presence of major human-pathogenic microsporidia, i. e. , Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Encephalitozoon intestinalis, Encephalitozoon hellem, and Encephalitozoon cuniculi, in the gastrointestinal tract of commercially harvested marine fish from Mediterranean coast of the Comunidad Valenciana, Eastern Spain. A total of 251 fish, 138 farmed fish and 113 wild fish from commercial fishing were tested by SYBR Green real-time PCR, enabling the simultaneous detection of the four targeted species. E. intestinalis/hellem was found in 1. 45% of farmed fish and 7. 96% of wild fish, while Enterocytozoonidae was detected in 2. 90% and 18. 58% of farmed and wild fish, respectively. E. cuniculi was not detected in any of the analyzed specimens. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of E. intestinalis/hellem in fish, particularly in marine fish. Although the role of fish in these species' epidemiology remains unknown, this finding points out a potential public health risk linked to fish consumption. Further studies are necessary to characterize these microsporidia in fish hosts better and to elucidate their epidemiological role.
Nota:	Altres ajuts: European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 2019/1476 i 2020/792
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Encephalitozoon hellem ; Encephalitozoon intestinalis ; Enterocytozoon bieneusi ; Real-time PCR ; Zoonosis
Publicat a:	Animals, Vol. 13 (august 2023) , ISSN 2076-2615

DOI: 10.3390/ani13162673
PMID: 37627464

11 p, 551.9 KB

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