A Toxin Isolated from Sarcocystis fayeri in Raw Horsemeat May Be Responsible for Food Poisoning

• Published in: Journal of food protection Vol. 77; no. 5; pp. 814 - 819
• Main Authors: KAMATA, Yoichi, SAITO, Morihiro, IRIKURA, Daisuke, YAHATA, Yuichiro, OHNISHI, Takahiro, BESSHO, Tomoaki, INUI, Takashi, WATANABE, Maiko, SUGITA-KONISHI, Yoshiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Des Moines, IA International Association for Food Protection 01.05.2014; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Abdomen; Adult; Amino acids; Animals; Beef; Biological and medical sciences; Consumption; Cysts; Diarrhea; Dogs; Eimeria tenella; Feces; Food contamination; Food contamination & poisoning; Food Contamination - analysis; Food industries; Food safety; Foodborne Diseases - parasitology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Horse Diseases - parasitology; Horses; Humans; Japan; Male; Meat; Meat - analysis; Meat - parasitology; Molecular Sequence Data; Molecular Weight; Oocysts - chemistry; Oocysts - growth & development; Oocysts - metabolism; Peptides; Poisoning; Proteins; Protozoa; Public health; Rabbits; Sarcocystis; Sarcocystis - chemistry; Sarcocystis - growth & development; Sarcocystis - isolation & purification; Sarcocystis - metabolism; Sarcocystosis - parasitology; Sarcocystosis - veterinary; Small intestine; Studies; Toxicity; Toxins; Toxins, Biological - chemistry; Toxins, Biological - isolation & purification; Toxins, Biological - toxicity; Toxoplasma gondii; Protozoa; Toxin; Apicomplexa; Sarcocystis; Food poisoning
• ISSN: 0362-028X; 1944-9097
• DOI: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-13-351

Food poisoning has been reported after the consumption of raw horsemeat in Japan. Diarrhea with a short incubation period is a common symptom in such cases of food poisoning. Cysts found in horsemeat ingested by patients have been identified as Sarcocystis fayeri based on morphological and genetic evaluation and findings from experimental feeding of cysts to dogs, which resulted in the excretion of sporocysts. The extracts of the horsemeat containing the cysts produced a positive enterotoxic response in the rabbit ileal loop test. Intravenous injection of a 15-kDa protein isolated from the cysts induced diarrhea and lethal toxicity in rabbits, and the protein produced enterotoxicity in the ileal loop test as did the extracts of the horsemeat containing the cysts. The partial amino acid sequence of the 15-kDa protein was homologous to the actin-depolymerizing factor of Toxoplasma gondii and Eimeria tenella. These findings indicate that the 15-kDa protein of S. fayeri is a toxin that causes food poisoning after consumption of parasitized horsemeat.