The most dreadful mushroom toxins: a review of their toxicological mechanisms, chemical structural characteristics, and treatment.

Mushroom consumption is a worldwide custom that continues to grow in popularity. On the other hand, foraging for wild mushrooms can lead to serious disease and even death if deadly mushrooms are accidentally consumed. Mushroom poisoning is difficult to diagnose and treat since the symptoms are similar to those of other disorders. In terms of chemistry, mushroom poisoning is associated with extraordinarily strong toxins, meaning that isolating and identifying toxins has substantial scientific relevance, especially in understanding the lethal components of toxic mushrooms. Most of these toxins exhibit exceptional physiological features that might help enhance chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, and pharmacology research. Despite the discovery of more than 100 poisons, several dangerous mushrooms remain unexplored. This review covers the chemistry (including chemical structures, complete synthesis, and biosynthesis), as well as the toxicology, namely the toxicokinetics, mechanisms of toxicology, and clinical toxicology of these poisons, in addition to the discussion of the development of their most effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies with the hopes of spurring additional studies, focusing on individual classes of toxins found in poisonous mushrooms such as amatoxins, gyromitrin, orellanine, and phallatoxins. See also the graphical abstract(Fig. 1).

Amanitins in Wild Mushrooms: The Development of HPLC-UV-EC and HPLC-DAD-MS Methods for Food Safety Purposes.

Mushroom poisoning remains a serious food safety and health concern in some parts of the world due to its morbidity and mortality. Identification of mushroom toxins at an early stage of suspected intoxication is crucial for a rapid therapeutic decision. In this study, a new extraction method was developed to determine α- and ß-amanitin in mushroom samples collected from central Portugal. High-performance liquid chromatography with in-line ultraviolet and electrochemical detection was implemented to improve the specificity of the method. The method was fully validated for linearity (0.5-20.0 µg·mL-1), sensitivity, recovery, and precision based on a matrix-matched calibration method. The limit of detection was 55 µg mL-1 (UV) and 62 µg mL-1 (EC) for α-amanitin and 64 µg mL-1 (UV) and 24 µg mL-1 (EC) for ß-amanitin. Intra- and inter-day precision differences were less than 13%, and the recovery ratios ranged from 89% to 117%. The developed method was successfully applied to fourteen Amanita species (A. sp.) and compared with five edible mushroom samples after extraction with Oasis® PRIME HLB cartridges without the conditioning and equilibration step. The results revealed that the A. phalloides mushrooms present the highest content of α- and ß-amanitin, which is in line with the HPLC-DAD-MS. In sum, the developed analytical method could benefit food safety assessment and contribute to food-health security, as it is rapid, simple, sensitive, accurate, and selectively detects α- and ß-amanitin in any mushroom samples.

[Determination of amanita peptide toxins in human urine by TurboFlow online clean-up-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

Amanita peptide toxins are cyclic polypeptide mushroom toxins that can cause acute liver damage. The fatality rate associated with these toxins is very high. Monitoring the concentration of amanita peptide toxins in human urine can provide valuable information for early clinical diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, a TurboFlow online clean-up-liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (TF-LC-MS/MS) method was established for the simultaneous quantitative determination of five amanita peptide toxins (α-amanitin, ß-amanitin, γ-amanitin, phallacidin, and phalloidin) in human urine. After pre-treatment with high-speed centrifugation, urine samples were analyzed using TF-LC-MS/MS. The main factors influencing purification efficiency, including the TF column, loading solution, eluting solution, transfer flow, and transfer time, were optimized in this study. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the analytes were purified using a TurboFlowTM Cyclone column (50 mm×0.5 mm) and separated on a Hypersil GOLD C18 column (100 mm×2.1 mm) using the mobile phases of methanol and 4 mmol/L aqueous ammonium acetate solution with gradient elution. The analytes were detected in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode via positive electrospray ionization. Matrix-matched external standard calibration was used for quantitation. The linear range of the method ranged from 1.0 µg/L to 50.0 µg/L for all five amanita peptide toxins, with correlation coefficients (r2) higher than 0.997. The limits of detection were 0.15-0.3 µg/L and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were 0.5-1.0 µg/L for the five amanita peptide toxins in urine. The intra-day and inter-day recoveries of amanita peptide toxins were 87.0%-108.6% and 86.8%-112.7%, respectively, at the spiked levels of 2.0, 5.0, and 10.0 µg/L. The intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) were less than 14.5%. The method is accurate, rapid, sensitive, easy to operate, and can satisfy the requirements of public health emergency testing or clinical poisoning testing.

Further development of a liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry-based strategy for analyzing eight biomarkers in human urine indicating toxic mushroom or Ricinus communis ingestions.

Recently, we presented a strategy for analysis of eight biomarkers in human urine to verify toxic mushroom or Ricinus communis ingestions. However, screening for the full panel is not always necessary. Thus, we aimed to develop a strategy to reduce analysis time and by focusing on two sets of analytes. One set (A) for biomarkers of late-onset syndromes, such as phalloides syndrome or the syndrome after castor bean intake. Another set (B) for biomarkers of early-onset syndromes, such as pantherine-muscaria syndrome and muscarine syndrome. Both analyses should be based on hydrophilic-interaction liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS)/MS (HILIC-HRMS/MS). For A, urine samples were prepared by liquid-liquid extraction using dichloromethane and subsequent solid-phase extraction of the aqueous supernatant. For B urine was precipitated using acetonitrile. Method A was validated for ricinine and α- and ß-amanitin and method B for muscarine, muscimol, and ibotenic acid according to the specifications for qualitative analytical methods. In addition, robustness of recovery and normalized matrix factors to matrix variability measured by urinary creatinine was tested. Moreover, applicability was tested using 10 urine samples from patients after suspected mushroom intoxication. The analytes α- and ß-amanitin, muscarine, muscimol, and ibotenic acid could be successfully identified. Finally, psilocin-O-glucuronide could be identified in two samples and unambiguously distinguished from bufotenine-O-glucuronide via their MS2 patterns. In summary, the current workflow offers several advantages towards the previous method, particularly being more labor-, time-, and cost-efficient, more robust, and more sensitive.

Analysis of Five Mushroom Toxins in Blood by UPLC-HRMS. / 血液中5ç§è˜‘è‡æ¯’ç´ çš„UPLC-HRMS分析.

OBJECTIVES: To develop a method for the simultaneous and rapid detection of five mushroom toxins (α-amanitin, phallacidin, muscimol, muscarine and psilocin) in blood by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-HRMS). METHODS: The blood samples were precipitated with acetonitrile-water solution(Vacetonitril∶Vwater=3∶1) and PAX powder, then separated on ACQUITY Premier C18 column, eluted gradient. Five kinds of mushroom toxins were monitored by FullMS-ddMS2/positive ion scanning mode, and qualitative and quantitative analysis was conducted according to the accurate mass numbers of primary and secondary fragment ions. RESULTS: All the five mushroom toxins had good linearity in their linear range, with a determination coefficient (R2)≥0.99. The detection limit was 0.2-20 ng/mL. The ration limit was 0.5-50 ng/mL. The recoveries of low, medium and high additive levels were 89.6%-101.4%, the relative standard deviation was 1.7%-6.7%, the accuracy was 90.4%-101.3%, the intra-day precision was 0.6%-9.0%, the daytime precision was 1.7%-6.3%, and the matrix effect was 42.2%-129.8%. CONCLUSIONS: The method is simple, rapid, high recovery rate, and could be used for rapid and accurate qualitative screening and quantitative analysis of various mushroom toxins in biological samples at the same time, so as to provide basis for the identification of mushroom poisoning events.

Analysis of Five Mushroom Toxins in Blood by UPLC-HRMS / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To develop a method for the simultaneous and rapid detection of five mushroom toxins (α-amanitin, phallacidin, muscimol, muscarine and psilocin) in blood by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-HRMS).@*METHODS@#The blood samples were precipitated with acetonitrile-water solution(Vacetonitril∶Vwater=3∶1) and PAX powder, then separated on ACQUITY Premier C18 column, eluted gradient. Five kinds of mushroom toxins were monitored by FullMS-ddMS2/positive ion scanning mode, and qualitative and quantitative analysis was conducted according to the accurate mass numbers of primary and secondary fragment ions.@*RESULTS@#All the five mushroom toxins had good linearity in their linear range, with a determination coefficient (R2)≥0.99. The detection limit was 0.2-20 ng/mL. The ration limit was 0.5-50 ng/mL. The recoveries of low, medium and high additive levels were 89.6%-101.4%, the relative standard deviation was 1.7%-6.7%, the accuracy was 90.4%-101.3%, the intra-day precision was 0.6%-9.0%, the daytime precision was 1.7%-6.3%, and the matrix effect was 42.2%-129.8%.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The method is simple, rapid, high recovery rate, and could be used for rapid and accurate qualitative screening and quantitative analysis of various mushroom toxins in biological samples at the same time, so as to provide basis for the identification of mushroom poisoning events.

Development and application of a strategy for analyzing eight biomarkers in human urine to verify toxic mushroom or ricinus communis ingestions by means of hydrophilic interaction LC coupled to HRMS/MS.

The analytical proof of a toxic mushroom and/or plant ingestion at an early stage of a suspected intoxication can be crucial for fast therapeutic decision making. Therefore, comprehensive analytical procedures need to be available. This study aimed to develop a strategy for the qualitative analysis of α- and ß-amanitin, psilocin, bufotenine, muscarine, muscimol, ibotenic acid, and ricinine in human urine by means of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-high resolution MS/MS (HILIC-HRMS/MS). Urine samples were prepared by hydrophilic-phase liquid-liquid extraction using dichloromethane and subsequent solid-phase extraction and precipitation, performed in parallel. Separation and identification of the biomarkers were achieved by HILIC using acetonitrile and methanol as main eluents and Orbitrap-based mass spectrometry, respectively. The method was validated as recommended for qualitative procedures and tests for selectivity, carryover, and extraction recoveries were included to also estimate the robustness and reproducibility of the sample preparation. Limits of identification were 1 ng/mL for α- and ß-amanitin, 5 ng/mL for psilocin, bufotenine, muscarine, and ricinine, and 1500 ng/mL and 2000 ng/mL for ibotenic acid and muscimol, respectively. Using γ-amanitin, l-tryptophan-d5, and psilocin-d10 as internal standards, compensation for variations of matrix effects was shown to be acceptable for most of the toxins. In eight urine samples obtained from intoxicated individuals, α- and ß-amanitin, psilocin, psilocin-O-glucuronide, muscimol, ibotenic acid, and muscarine could be identified. Moreover, psilocin-O-glucuronide and bufotenine-O-glucuronide were found to be suitable additional targets. The analytical strategy developed was thus well suited for analyzing several biomarkers of toxic mushrooms and plants in human urine to support therapeutic decision making in a clinical toxicology setting. To our knowledge, the presented method is by far the most comprehensive approach for identification of the included biomarkers in a human matrix.

Evaluation of novel organosilane modifications of paper spray mass spectrometry substrates for analyzing polar compounds.

Paper spray mass spectrometry (PSMS) is currently used in different analytical fields, but less effort has been made so far to use PSMS for highly polar compounds. Such analytes usually show poor performance in PSMS due to their high affinity for common paper substrates in addition to high matrix effects. In this study, strategies for hydrophobic modifications of commercially available paper substrates using ten different organosilanes were developed. The modified substrates were generated, characterized, and applied for PSMS analysis of polar toxins. By using the modified paper, PSMS performance of some of the toxins could be considerably increased, especially for orellanine, showing a more than 80-fold signal enhancement when substrates modified with chlorotrimethylsilane were used. For other toxins like ricinine, only small beneficial effects could be shown on PSMS performance when using modified substrates. Statistical equivalence tests showed sufficient ruggedness of the developed procedures also compared to conventional substrates. Thus, further systematic development of paper substrates modified with organosilane derivatives based on the presented study for application in PSMS should be encouraged.

Source attribution profiling of five species of Amanita mushrooms from four European countries by high resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry combined with multivariate statistical analysis and DNA-barcoding.

Source attribution profiling of five species of Amanita mushrooms from four European countries was performed using Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC-HRMS) combined with multivariate statistical analysis. Initially, species determination was carried out morphologically and was verified by DNA-analysis. This data was then combined with chemical profiling, generated from LC-HRMS full scan analysis. The untargeted data was processed and the 720 most abundant peaks in the LC-HRMS chromatogram were used to build a multivariate PLS-DA model. The two independent methods for species determination showed 100% correlation, indicating the potential use of chemical profiling as a supporting technique to genetic methods. When specimens of one species were studied, significant variation related to the region of growth was found. The potential of the geo-positioning was shown for A. phalloides from Sweden, Denmark and UK and A. virosa from Sweden and Denmark. Additionally, A. virosa specimens could be attributed to three geographically different regions of Sweden.

[Determination of amanitins and phallotoxins in wild mushrooms by online liquid chromatography-diode array detector-tandem mass spectrometry].

A fast and wide linear range method was established for the determination of mushroom toxins amanitins (α-amanitin,ß-amanitin and γ-amanitin) and phallotoxins (phallacidin and phalloidin) in wild mushrooms by online liquid chromatography-diode array detector-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-MS/MS). The mushroom toxins were extracted with methanol, and diluted with water. The extracts were separated on an XBridgeTM BEH C18 column (150 mm×3.0 mm, 2.5 µm) under pH 10.7, measured by DAD and then analyzed by MS/MS. Basic mobile phase conditions were applied to improve the ionization efficiency of hydrogen ion adducts. The baseline separation of the analytes was obtained within 15 min. The limits of detection (LODs) of the sample matrix were 0.005-0.02 mg/kg. The toxins were quantified by the results measured by MS/MS when the toxin contents less than 2 mg/kg, and quantified by the results obtained from DAD when the contents more than 2 mg/kg. The linear range was 0.05-500 mg/kg for the whole method in one injection. The method was successfully applied to the analyses of amanitins and phallotoxins in Lepiota brunneoincarnata and white Amanita.

Secondary Metabolites from Higher Fungi.

Secondary metabolites of higher fungi (mushrooms) are an underexplored resource compared to plant-derived secondary metabolites. An increasing interest in mushroom natural products has been noted in recent years. This chapter gives a comprehensive overview of the secondary metabolites from higher fungi, with 765 references highlighting the isolation, structure elucidation, biological activities, chemical syntheses, and biosynthesis of pigments, nitrogen-containing compounds, and terpenoids from mushrooms. Mushroom toxins are also included in each section.In a section on pigments of higher fungi, pigments are classified into four categories, namely, those from the shikimate-chorismate, acetate-malonate, and mevalonate biosynthetic pathways, and pigments containing nitrogen, with 145 references covering the years 2010-2016.In a section on other nitrogen-containing compounds of higher fungi, compounds are categorized primarily into nitrogen heterocycles, nucleosides, non-protein amino acids, cyclic peptides, and sphingolipids, with 65 references covering the years 2010-2016. In turn, in a section describing terpenoids of higher fungi, the sesquiterpenoids and diterpenoids are thoroughly elaborated, spanning the years 2001-2016, and 2009-2016, respectively. The divergent biosynthetic pathways from farnesyl pyrophosphate to sesquiterpenoids are also described. Selected triterpenoids with novel structures and promising biological activities, including lanostanes and ergostanes, are reported from the genus Ganoderma, and the fungi Antrodia cinnamomea and Poria cocos. In addition, cucurbitanes and saponaceolides are also compiled in this section.

Simultaneous determination of mushroom toxins α-amanitin, ß-amanitin and muscarine in human urine by solid-phase extraction and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultra-high-resolution TOF mass spectrometry.

This paper presents a method for the simultaneous determination of α-amanitin, ß-amanitin and muscarine in human urine by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultra-high-resolution TOF mass spectrometry. The method can be used for a diagnostics of mushroom poisonings. Different SPE cartridges were tested for sample preparation, namely hydrophilic modified reversed-phase (Oasis HLB) and polymeric weak cation phase (Strata X-CW). The latter gave better results and therefore it was chosen for the subsequent method optimization and partial validation. In the course of validation, limits of detection, linearity, intraday and interday precisions and recoveries were evaluated. The obtained LOD values of α-amanitin and ß-amanitin were 1ng/mL and of muscarine 0.09ng/mL. The intraday and interday precisions of human urine spiked with α-amanitin (10ng/mL), ß-amanitin (10ng/mL) and muscarine (1ng/mL) ranged from 6% to 10% and from 7% to 13%, respectively. The developed method was proved to be a relevant tool for the simultaneous determination of the studied mushroom toxins in human urine after mushroom poisoning.