Ricerca diMicrocystin-LRin molluschi bivalvi e nel loro habitat in alcune zone della Sardegna

Cyanobacterial blooms occur worldwide and present an increasing problem due to eutrophication of aquatic environment. Cyanobacteria produce a wide range of toxins and the most studied and widely distributed are the hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs). They cause morphological and functional changes in hepatocytes by inhibiting the activity of protein phosphatases leading to cell proliferation and cancer or an apoptotic process and cell death. MCs are associated with freshwater environments and their bioaccumulation by aquatic animals, has been reported. Since these organisms are an important food source, MCs can be transferred to higher trophic levels through the food chain leading to human toxicity. The most toxic, abundant and commonly detected cyanotoxin in natural blooms is MC-LR. The health hazards have led the World Health Organization (WHO) to establish a provisional guideline value of MC-LR of 1 g/L in drinking water.In this work water and bivalves tissues cached in three Sardinian ponds with favourable condition for the development of cyanobacterial blooms have been collected to research and quantify MC-LR. For this purpose enzime linked immunosorbent assay and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry tecniques were used