• News
  • Lake Facts
  • About

Lake Scientist

Algal Toxins And Alzheimer’s

2
  • by Daniel Kelly
  • — January 26, 2016

Algal toxins are already nothing to mess with. Negative effects that they can have on people coming into contact with them include things like skin rashes, burns and blistering of the mouth. Long-term exposure is worse, netting impacts like liver failure in the case of Microcystis.

But it turns out that the long list of negatives doesn’t stop there. As researchers from the University of Miami and the Institute for EthnoMedicine found in a long-term study, toxins produced by blooming algae may very well contribute to Alzheimer’s disease in humans.

The toxin that they investigated is called BMAA — for beta-Methylamino-L-alanine — and was first cast under suspicion by villagers living in remote parts of Guam in the Pacific Islands. The inhabitants of small-town Chamorro had for decades been making tortilla shells with cycad seeds, which contain the neurotoxin. Once scientists made that determination, further testing was able to link the toxin consumption with a mysterious sickness afflicting Chamorro villagers.

algal toxins alzheimer's

Algae. (Credit: Flickr User Tristan Schmurr via Creative Commons 2.0)

Follow-up studies into the toxin’s effects involved using vervet monkeys as test subjects. In one such investigation, researchers gave one group of monkeys BMAA, while others got a mix of BMAA and an amino acid, and others received placebos.

The effects of this experiment revealed that all of the monkeys that had gotten straight BMAA treatments had brains filled with tangled up cells and amyloid plaque deposits. The placebo treatment group was unaffected, while the combination treatment group showed results similar to the BMAA group but with less severe changes in their brains.

After that study, researchers ran through repeat ones to see if they could replicate the results. And every time that they did, the results came out the same.

algae bloom lake erie

Algal bloom in Lake Erie’s western basin. (Credit: NASA)

Scientists involved with the work say that their findings make a big leap forward in showing causality in the realm of Alzheimer’s research. The tangles that they saw in the monkeys, in fact, were nearly identical to those found in the brains of Chamorro villagers who died from the Alzheimer’s-like disease impacting them. The study was one of the first to be able to intentionally produce tangles and plaques in the brains of animals.

BMAA toxin is believed to be produced by certain types of blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria. Full results of the study are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Do you have expertise in BMAA research? What are other ways that algal toxins affect humans? Please consider leaving a comment to share your thoughts!

Share

You may also like...

  • Great Lakes phosphorus levels on the rise, according to IJC report
  • lake menomin algal blooms Student Scientists Investigate Lake Menomin Algal Blooms
  • Musty smell might indicate toxicity, new cyanobacteria study shows
  • Sampling of Ohio lakes shows high levels of algae toxin, coliform bacteria

2 Comments

  1. joel naatus says:
    February 7, 2016 at 11:58 AM

    Could algal toxins also be what is causing sexual change in fish populations in NE?

    Abstract from article http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es103538b-

    “Microcystis blooms occur worldwide and threaten aquatic ecosystems and human health. Sublethal effects on early developmental stages of fish are largely unknown, and research has mainly focused on microcystin toxins (such as MC-LR) rather than Microcystis cells. We exposed (96 h) zebrafish larvae to purified MC-LR (0−1000 μg/L) or lyophilized Microcystis aeruginosacontaining 4.5 μg/L MC-LR and evaluated changes in global gene expression (Affymetrix GeneChip zebrafish genome arrays). Significant changes in gene expression (≥1.7-fold change, p100-fold on arrays; 619.3-fold confirmed by quantitative PCR) was observed in Microcystis-exposed larvae but not in larvae exposed to MC-LR. Up-regulation of vtg indicates exposure to estrogenic substance(s) and suggests that Microcystis may be a natural source of environmental estrogens. Concerns about effects of Microcystis blooms may extend beyond those associated with the microcystin toxin.”

    Reply
  2. joel naatus says:
    February 7, 2016 at 12:01 PM

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/160203-feminized-fish-endocrine-disruption-hormones-wildlife-refuges/

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

FishSens SondeCAM HD
  • Recent Posts

    • Sampling on Lake St. Clair, July 29, 2013.Research Brief: Contaminants in a Great Lakes Urban-Dominant WatershedJune 2, 2023
    • Sea LampreyResearch Brief: Incorporating the Two-Eyed Seeing Approach into Sea Lamprey ManagementMay 26, 2023
    • USCGC Mackinaw Entering Duluth HarborResearch Brief: Full-Year Zooplankton Dynamics Along a Nearshore Depth GradientMay 19, 2023
    • Image of Lake 239 at IISD Experimental Lakes Area from aboveResearch Brief: Using Sediment DNA to Determine Long-Term Cyanobacterial DynamicsMay 12, 2023
    • Crystal Clear Problems: Impacts of Water Transparency in Aquatic EcosystemsMay 1, 2023
  • Popular Tags

    Great Lakes research pollution Lake Erie research summary Product Spotlight invasive species Algae international runoff Lake Michigan Ohio dissolved oxygen nutrient-loading EPA temperature eutrophication toxic waters climate change USGS ice phosphorus Asian Carp Michigan restoration

©2023 Fondriest Environmental Inc. | Questions? Call 888.426.2151 or email customercare@fondriest.com